The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) handed down two more warning letters for vapor companies violating marketing rules for tobacco products on Thursday. Str8Vape and Extreme Vapour received letters for selling products without submitting a premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) to the regulatory agency by the Sept. 9, 2020 deadline.
The total number of warning letters for the illegal sale of vapor products now stands at 84 in 2021. The letters were posted on the FDA’s website on April 8, the same day the businesses received the warnings.
The FDA states that is had determined that Extreme Vapour did “manufacture, sell, and/or distribute to customers in the United States the following Xtreme Vapour Babylon Vape Juice Pineapple 30ml e-liquid product without a marketing authorization order.” The company manufacturers over 80 products registered with FDA.
The FDA states that is has determined Str8Vape did “manufacture, sell, and/or distribute to customers in the United States the following STR8VAPE AMERICAN BLEND 3mg 70VG/30PG 30ML e-liquid product without a marketing authorization order.” The company is a registered manufacturer with over 27,400 products listed with FDA.
The FDA states that the companies failed to submit PMTAs by the required Sept. 9, 2020 deadline. The FDA also states that “the violations discussed in this letter do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list” and companies should quickly address any products that violate the same rules as the product mentioned in the letter.
In February, the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, Mitch Zeller, said that there were over 400 million vaping-related products that required a PMTA in order to remain on the market. “These warning letters are the result of continued surveillance and internet monitoring for violations of tobacco laws and regulations. We want to make clear to all tobacco product manufacturers and retailers that the FDA is keeping a close watch on the marketplace and will hold companies accountable for breaking the law,” said Zeller.
Companies that receive warning letters from the FDA have to submit a written response to the letter within 15 working days from the date of receipt describing the company’s corrective actions, including the dates on which it discontinued the violative sale, and/or distribution of the products. They also require the company’s plan for maintaining compliance with the FD&C Act in the future.