GOP lawmakers ask Pence to stop e-cigarette rule

Republicans in the House are turning to Vice President-elect Mike Pence to help stop a rule from the Obama administration that requires most electronic cigarettes to go through a costly review process.

In a letter to Pence on Monday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) called the rule from the Food and Drug Administration “an example of a burdensome rule that could eliminate the entire emerging industry” and asked that the next administration consider repealing or suspending it.

“The FDA’s rule threatens to crush the e-cigarette industry and potentially hurt the public’s health by making it harder for consumers to access products that serve as an alternative to smoking,” they said.

{mosads}The rule, which took effect in August, requires any product that hit store shelves after February 2007 to go through a costly approval process. Manufacturers have 12 months to submit a request to be exempt, 18 months to submit an application proving the product has a substantial equivalent already on the market and 24 months to submit an application for pre-market approval.

Johnson and Hunter said those pre-market approval applications can cost manufacturers — most of which are small businesses — more than $1 million per product. 

“If the FDA’s overreach goes unchecked, then thousands of jobs and small businesses will disappear,” they said. “To reign in the regulatory overreach of the Obama administration, it is necessary to consider all appropriate executive and legislative options to ease the burdens on job creators and innovators.”