The Rolling Brothers and Operation Esteli Idea
- Thread starter Hopduro
- Start date
I wonder???
"Some in the industry say a provision in the new FDA rules that forbids handing out free samples of tobacco products could apply to donated cigars. What's more, an existing rule under the Tobacco Control Act that forbids "the charitable distribution of tobacco products" now apparently applies to cigars, said Anna Wiand, a lawyer who specializes in regulated products for the GrayRobinson law firm in Tampa.
"It would now be unwise to make those donations with that express charitable donation prohibition," Wiand said. "I don't know how much of a priority this would be for the FDA, but it quite clearly is a prohibition under the regulatory regime we have."
"Some in the industry say a provision in the new FDA rules that forbids handing out free samples of tobacco products could apply to donated cigars. What's more, an existing rule under the Tobacco Control Act that forbids "the charitable distribution of tobacco products" now apparently applies to cigars, said Anna Wiand, a lawyer who specializes in regulated products for the GrayRobinson law firm in Tampa.
"It would now be unwise to make those donations with that express charitable donation prohibition," Wiand said. "I don't know how much of a priority this would be for the FDA, but it quite clearly is a prohibition under the regulatory regime we have."
Read this...
This Thursday, Two Guys Smoke Shop of Nashua New Hampshire received many shipments including some of its imports from the Dominican Republic, and many of them from Santiago, from two different manufacturers and two different importers. With both of these shipments, there seemed to be a problem. “We have been receiving cigars direct from the Dominican Republic for over 30 years now; this was nothing special for us until we opened the boxes.” Bundle of 20 cigars now had 40 cigars in it and wheels of 50 cigars in it now had 100 in it. It wasn’t that I got twice what I paid for; it was that the cigars were sawed in half! Hundreds and hundreds of cigars sawed in half, some just broken in half by hand as it appears. Green tape was in each box marking them as “Examined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.” Examined?
No explanation, no refund, no letter and no warning. No phone number or email address!
By the way, as my cigars cleared customs, immediately following their destruction, they were
taxed. Incidentally, the federal tax on cigars is 52.4% of its cost per cigar. Now that they have sawed them in half and turned one cigar into two, was I to pay twice the tax? No. Now that they sawed my cigars in two and turned a good cigar into trash, did they charge me zero? No. Do they give me my federal tax back and the cost of each and every cigar including packaging cost and shipping costs? No. How about the lost sales from the very product that was destroyed? I would guess that is a long shot but why not?
So I’m sitting on hundreds and hundreds of sawed in half cigars. What can I do with them? Well maybe I can sell the piece with the cap (head) still on the cigar as a nub? Well, according to the FDA’s new deeming regulations I can’t. That would now create a new size and those cigars would have to go through the long and costly red tape, this is now a new size and I would have to prove it is substantially equivalent to the cigar they sawed in half. Actually it is not, the cigar they sawed in half was a long filled, premium cigar using well aged, whole leaf Dominican tobacco. The sawed in half cigars I have now are just trash!
Full article... http://thecigarauthority.com/u-s-customs-cut-cigars-half/
This Thursday, Two Guys Smoke Shop of Nashua New Hampshire received many shipments including some of its imports from the Dominican Republic, and many of them from Santiago, from two different manufacturers and two different importers. With both of these shipments, there seemed to be a problem. “We have been receiving cigars direct from the Dominican Republic for over 30 years now; this was nothing special for us until we opened the boxes.” Bundle of 20 cigars now had 40 cigars in it and wheels of 50 cigars in it now had 100 in it. It wasn’t that I got twice what I paid for; it was that the cigars were sawed in half! Hundreds and hundreds of cigars sawed in half, some just broken in half by hand as it appears. Green tape was in each box marking them as “Examined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.” Examined?
No explanation, no refund, no letter and no warning. No phone number or email address!
By the way, as my cigars cleared customs, immediately following their destruction, they were
taxed. Incidentally, the federal tax on cigars is 52.4% of its cost per cigar. Now that they have sawed them in half and turned one cigar into two, was I to pay twice the tax? No. Now that they sawed my cigars in two and turned a good cigar into trash, did they charge me zero? No. Do they give me my federal tax back and the cost of each and every cigar including packaging cost and shipping costs? No. How about the lost sales from the very product that was destroyed? I would guess that is a long shot but why not?So I’m sitting on hundreds and hundreds of sawed in half cigars. What can I do with them? Well maybe I can sell the piece with the cap (head) still on the cigar as a nub? Well, according to the FDA’s new deeming regulations I can’t. That would now create a new size and those cigars would have to go through the long and costly red tape, this is now a new size and I would have to prove it is substantially equivalent to the cigar they sawed in half. Actually it is not, the cigar they sawed in half was a long filled, premium cigar using well aged, whole leaf Dominican tobacco. The sawed in half cigars I have now are just trash!
Full article... http://thecigarauthority.com/u-s-customs-cut-cigars-half/
My opinion as a home roller is to keep out of the lime light until this gets clearly defined by the FDA. Low key and incognito. Sorry, but for right now, I think donations to charitable organizations is a bad idea and could turn a good deed into a nightmare. Thanks to the FDA and this ridiculous over reach.
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2016
- Messages
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too bad... this was looking to be a swell idea... TILL I HAD ANOTHER ONE! Let's Put all our cigars together in a shadow box... Sell it as Honorary Cigar Art (labeled: not INTENDED for human consumption) and let them auction that off. What the winner of the bid does with the work of art is not our business. Just another thought. 
Done
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- Mar 27, 2016
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- 532
That's what I do with my ReMix Cigar CitiesDone
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I make a platter of cigars that look like a cityscape bunched together and raffle them off as Cigar Art... Not my business what the winner does with the work. Works out fine for me so far I don't even bother to ask what people do with their collections... I don't wanna know. I just make a beautiful presentation and off it goes! on my web site... customers earn stick REWARDS for my painted art works and for other products they wish to purchase... they earn tasting rewards that way and can redeem sticks with their purchases... they aren't free... they are rewards and they aren't for sale... they are awarded <3 We as rollers who want to earn an income or help others earn one via our passion, have to be creative or we will die under the new law.
The laws are always "subject to interpretation". The way that I "interpret" this situation is this: I am a home roller, not a "cigar manufacturer". As a private citizen I intend to gift "cigar art" to a very noble charitable foundation. I'm sure the fda has bigger fish to fry than me and if they come after me they won't get much. Lol
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- Mar 15, 2016
- Messages
- 2,956
A recent article pertaining to the legality of donating tobacco stuff to the troops:
http://cigar-coop.com/2016/09/cigar-news-question-looms-on-whether-cigar-donations-to-charities-and-troops-are-allowed.html
http://cigar-coop.com/2016/09/cigar-news-question-looms-on-whether-cigar-donations-to-charities-and-troops-are-allowed.html
A little sneak preview of some of the sticks I'm donating to the cause
