NJOY Brings Sweeping Litigation Against Illicit Disposable Vapor Manufacturers
19 Outubro 2023 - 12:34PM
Business Wire
Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) announces today its operating
company NJOY, LLC (NJOY) has filed sweeping litigation against 34
foreign and domestic manufacturers, distributors and online
retailers of illicit disposable e-vapor products that are
unlawfully marketed and sold in the State of California and
elsewhere. The suit alleges that these companies manufacture,
distribute, market and sell products that violate California’s
flavor ban law, are unlawful under federal law and subject to FDA
action, and illegally compete against companies that comply with
state and federal laws.
The suit seeks a nation-wide injunction against the import,
marketing and sale of these illicit products and significant
compensatory and punitive damages.
“These companies knowingly violate federal and state laws and
need to be held accountable,” said Murray Garnick, Altria’s
Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “Today there are two
markets – one for those who play by the rules and one for those who
flagrantly ignore them. We are taking this action because the
current state of the illicit e-vapor market is intolerable, and we
must see more action from FDA and others.”
The litigation, filed in the United States District Court for
the Central District of California, is brought under four claims:
unfair competition, false advertising, false advertising in
violation of the Lanham Act and violation of the Prevent All
Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009.
Named Defendants in the suit manufacture and distribute illicit
disposable e-vapor products which include, but are not limited to,
brands such as: Breeze, Elf Bar, EB, EB Create, Esco Bar, Flum,
Juice Box, Lava Plus, Loon, Lost Mary, Mr. Fog and Puff Bar.
Domestic Defendants include companies doing business in Arizona,
California, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New
York and Texas. Foreign Defendants are all based in China.
None of the Defendants has received premarket authorization from
the FDA. In many instances, Defendants also have not filed the
required application for premarket approval. Several of these
Defendants have already received warning letters from the FDA
stating that their products are adulterated and misbranded and
cannot be sold without a marketing authorization. Additionally,
some of these Defendants are subject to an FDA-ordered import alert
authorizing U.S. Customs and Border agents to seize their
products.
NJOY may add additional manufacturers, distributors and
retailers to this complaint and will consider further litigation
activity.
Despite a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products that went
into effect in December 2022, flavored vapor products make up more
than 97 percent of the California market according to a recent
study commissioned by Altria and available on altria.com. Conducted
by an independent research firm WSPM Group, the study collected
15,000 empty discarded cigarette packs and 4,529 e-vapor product
packages from May 1st through June 28th in 10 California
cities.
Altria’s Profile
We have a leading portfolio of tobacco products for U.S. tobacco
consumers age 21+. Our Vision is to responsibly lead the transition
of adult smokers to a smoke-free future (Vision). We are Moving
Beyond Smoking™, leading the way in moving adult smokers away from
cigarettes by taking action to transition millions to potentially
less harmful choices - believing it is a substantial opportunity
for adult tobacco consumers, our businesses and society.
Our wholly owned subsidiaries include leading manufacturers of
both combustible and smoke-free products. In combustibles, we own
Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM USA), the most profitable U.S. cigarette
manufacturer, and John Middleton Co. (Middleton), a leading U.S.
cigar manufacturer. Our smoke-free portfolio includes ownership of
U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (USSTC), the leading global
moist smokeless tobacco (MST) manufacturer, Helix Innovations LLC
(Helix), a leading manufacturer of oral nicotine pouches, and NJOY,
LLC (NJOY), currently the only e-vapor manufacturer to receive
market authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) for a pod-based e-vapor product.
Additionally, we have a majority-owned joint venture, Horizon
Innovations LLC (Horizon), for the U.S. marketing and
commercialization of heated tobacco stick products and, through a
separate agreement, we have the exclusive U.S. commercialization
rights to the IQOS Tobacco Heating System® and Marlboro HeatSticks®
through April 2024.
Our equity investments include Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI),
the world’s largest brewer, and Cronos Group Inc. (Cronos), a
leading Canadian cannabinoid company.
The brand portfolios of our tobacco operating companies include
Marlboro®, Black & Mild®, Copenhagen®, Skoal®, on!® and NJOY®.
Trademarks and service marks related to Altria referenced in this
release are the property of Altria or our subsidiaries or are used
with permission.
Learn more about Altria at www.altria.com and follow us on
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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