Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2019
A BILL
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to clarify the Food and Drug Administration’s jurisdiction over certain tobacco products, and to protect jobs and small businesses involved in the sale, manufacturing, and distribution of traditional and premium cigars.
2. Limitation of authority with respect to premium cigars
“(3) Limitation of authority for certain cigars
“(A) In general—The provisions of this chapter (except for section 907(d)(3)) shall not apply to traditional large and premium cigars.
“(B) Rule of construction—Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to grant the Secretary authority to promulgate regulations on any matter that involves traditional large and premium cigars.
“(C) Traditional large and premium cigar defined—For purposes of this paragraph, the term “traditional large and premium cigar”—
“(i) means any roll of tobacco that is wrapped in 100 percent leaf tobacco, bunched with 100 percent tobacco filler, contains no filter, tip, flavor additive, or non-tobacco mouthpiece, weighs at least 6 pounds per 1,000 count, and—
“(I) has a 100 percent leaf tobacco binder and is hand rolled; or
“(II) has a homogenized tobacco leaf binder and is made in the United States using human hands to lay the 100 percent leaf tobacco wrapper onto only one machine that bunches, wraps, and caps each individual cigar; and
“(ii) does not include a cigarette (as such term is defined by section 900(3)) or a little cigar (as such term is defined by section 900(11)).”