Premarket Tobacco Product Applications for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability; Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notification of availability.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Premarket Tobacco Product Applications for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.” Given the relatively new presence of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) on the U.S. market and FDA's final rule deeming these products to be subject to the tobacco product authorities in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), FDA expects to receive premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) submissions from manufacturers of ENDS. This draft guidance is intended to assist persons with their PMTA submissions for ENDS products.

DATES:

Although you can comment on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5)), to ensure that the Agency considers your comment on this draft guidance before it begins work on the final version of the guidance, submit either electronic or written comments on the draft guidance by July 11, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments as follows:

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to http://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
• If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submissions” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

• Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
• For written/paper comments submitted to the Division of Dockets Management, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2015-D-2496 for “Premarket Tobacco Product Application for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.” Received comments will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at http://www.regulations.gov or at the Division of Dockets Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

• Confidential Submissions—To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on http://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Division of Dockets Management. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.” Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/dockets/default.htm.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into the “Search” box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Division of Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

Submit written requests for single copies of this draft guidance to the Center for Tobacco Products, Food and Drug Administration, Document Control Center, Bldg. 71, Rm. G335, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20993-2000. Send one self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing your request or include a fax number to which the draft guidance may be sent. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for information on electronic access to the draft guidance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

With regard to the draft guidance: Colleen Lee, Center for Tobacco Products, Food and Drug Administration, Document Control Center, Bldg. 71, Rm. G335, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20993-2000, 1-877-287-1373, AskCTP@fda.hhs.gov.

With regard to the proposed collection of information: FDA PRA Staff, Office of Operations, Food and Drug Administration, 8455 Colesville Rd., COLE-14526, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, PRAStaff@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

FDA is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Premarket Tobacco Product Applications for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.”

On June 22, 2009, the President signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) (Pub. L. 111-31) into law. The Tobacco Control Act amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) and granted FDA authority to regulate the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products to protect public health generally and to reduce tobacco use by minors. Under section 901(b) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 387a(b)), FDA's tobacco product authorities in chapter IX of the FD&C Act apply to all cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco and to any other tobacco products that the Secretary of Health and Human Services by regulation deems to be subject to chapter IX. Concurrently with issuing this draft guidance, FDA is publishing elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, its final rule, “Deeming Tobacco Products To Be Subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as Amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act; Restrictions on the Sale and Distribution of Tobacco Products and Required Warning Statements for Tobacco Products” (Deeming rule) to deem all products meeting the statutory definition of “tobacco product” in section 201(rr) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 321(rr)), except accessories to newly deemed tobacco products, to be subject to chapter IX of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 387 through 387u).

Under section 910 of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 387j), persons seeking to market a new tobacco product (as defined in section 910(a)(1) of the FD&C Act) must first submit a PMTA to FDA and obtain a marketing authorization order, unless FDA has issued an order that the new tobacco product is substantially equivalent to a tobacco product commercially marketed in the United States as of February 15, 2007, or the new tobacco product is exempt from demonstrating substantial equivalence pursuant to the reasons outlined in section 905(j)(3) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 387e(j)(3)). The ENDS products that are the subject of this draft guidance likely would be considered new tobacco products.

Given the relatively new presence of ENDS on the U.S. market, FDA anticipates that many manufacturers of these new tobacco products will seek a marketing authorization order by filing a PMTA. This draft guidance explains, among other things, products to which the guidance applies, when a PMTA is required, general procedures for review of an ENDS PMTA, what information the FD&C Act requires applicants to submit in a PMTA, and what information FDA recommends applicants submit in an ENDS PMTA to show whether permitting such new tobacco product to be marketed is appropriate for the protection of the public health.

II. Significance of Draft Guidance

FDA is issuing this draft guidance consistent with FDA's good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The draft guidance, when finalized, will represent the current thinking of FDA on PMTAs for ENDS. It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.

III. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

This draft guidance refers to collections of information described in FDA's Deeming rule, which this draft guidance is intended to interpret. The collections of information in the Deeming rule are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). As required by the PRA, FDA has published an analysis of the information collection provisions elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register and has submitted them for OMB approval.

IV. Electronic Access

Persons with access to the Internet may obtain an electronic version of the draft guidance at either http://www.regulations.gov or http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/RulesRegulationsGuidance/default.htm.