Not even R.J. Reynolds can get new products approved.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-blocks-sale-four-new-cigarette-brands-n427766
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-blocks-sale-four-new-cigarette-brands-n427766
Dear FDA,If the information you seek is not available from any of the above sources, you must submit a written Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to FDA.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (also known as the FSPTC Act) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 22, 2009. This bill forever changed the scope of tobacco policy in the United States by giving the FDA the ability to regulate tobacco products, similar to how it has regulated food and pharmaceuticals since the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906.
President Barack Obama, who has himself struggled with smoking addiction, praised the law, saying that it will save American lives. The Obama administration had previously voiced support for such an act, while former President George W. Bush had threatened to veto the law after it had passed the United States House of Representatives in 2008. Much opposition to the law from Congress came from tobacco-growing states such as North Carolina, whose representatives said they felt that the FDA was not fit to take on the large task of regulating tobacco products.
The act gives the FDA comprehensive control on tobacco products for sale in the United States. Much of the legislation is targeted specifically at cigarettes and/or smokeless tobacco products. The act gives the FDA the power to:
Require tobacco companies to submit an ingredients list of any product sold or imported in the United States
Require tobacco companies to make public the nicotine content of their products and to adopt standards of nicotine content and to reduce or eliminate other harmful substances present
Enlarge warnings on tobacco packaging so that they take up 50% of the front and back panel area
Regulate the use of terms such as "mild" and "light" by requiring that tobacco products conform to certain standards regarding these terms
Create a Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee to help inform the FDA on issues relating to tobacco products