The Trump administration issued a new policy Friday that could allow major tobacco and vape companies to begin selling flavored e-cigarettes, delivering a win to top donors after a year of paring back federal tobacco-control efforts.
The policy was announced hours after President Trump reportedly signed off on a plan to fire Dr. Marty Makary, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, who has resisted allowing sales of flavored vapes for months over concerns about their appeal to young people. Mr. Trump later said he was not aware of plans to oust Dr. Makary.
In a policy posted on the F.D.A. website, the agency said it would take steps to remove illicit e-cigarettes from the market and allow sales of those that have already crossed hurdles toward agency approval.
The guidance, issued without public comment or rule making, could allow companies such as Reynolds American, Altria and Juul to stock prime shelf space in gas stations and convenience stores with flavored e-cigarettes.
Thus far, the F.D.A. has authorized those companies to sell only tobacco- or menthol-flavored vapes, enabling illicit products in candy and fruit flavors to gain a majority of the $6 billion e-cigarette market in the United States.
Mitch Zeller, a former F.D.A. tobacco chief under Democratic and Republican administrations, said the plan to stop enforcing rules on e-cigarettes would allow an untold number of products on the market, making an end run around rules the agency had previously defended up to the Supreme Court. The scientific process was meant to approve products shown in studies to help cigarette smokers transition to vapes without attracting a new generation of nicotine users.
“I don’t see how this solves for anything other than a gift to companies that are eligible and allowing illegal products to remain on the market because F.D.A. is going to look the other way,” he said.
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