The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted its proposal to expand tobacco product regulatory powers to include e-cigarettes, cigars and shisha to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), federal records show.

OMB received the proposed final rule on 19 Oct, according to information posted on the government website RegInfo.gov. There was no indication when OMB would clear the rule for publication. The FDA currently regulates cigarettes, hand-rolled tobaccos and smokeless products, and requires new products in those categories be approved before they can be marketed. In addition to the product categories named above, the deeming rule would extend tobacco regulation to pipe tobaccos and dissolvables not already regulated as smokeless tobacco.