A Senate panel did not include language attached to a spending bill that would have changed the “grandfather date” in proposed e-cigarette regulations that could ruin "tens of thousands" of companies, an industry association said.

The rider left out of a USD 1.1 trillion spending bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee would have barred the Food and Drug Administration from using federal money to implement the grandfather date. The FDA has said the date, 15 Feb, 2007, is dictated by prior statute. Only products in the market before that date may bypass a requirement for costly pre-market approval under the agency’s proposed “deeming rule” to extend its regulatory authority to non-regulated tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.
“It is essential that that our elected officials fully understand the ramifications of this decision and consider the full economic and social impact the vapour category is having on our country,” said the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA). “Harming public health while exterminating tens of thousands of American small businesses is not the FDA’s mandate, but unless addressed legislatively, it will be the effect of this regulation.”
A bill before the House of Representatives also seeks to change the grandfather date to when the final deeming rule is issued.