US
In early June, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appealed a court decision that denied the agency’s request to combine two lawsuits filed over cigar regulations into a single case.
Attorneys for FDA had previously requested a Texas lawsuit filed by En Fuego, a Dallas-area retailer; El Cubano Cigars, a League City-based manufacturer and retailer; and the Texas Cigar Merchants Association (TXCMA) be moved to and combined with a DC case filed by the Cigar Association of America (CAA), Cigar Rights of America (CRA), and International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers’ Association (IPCPR). Last month, Magistrate Judge Kimberly C. Priest Johnson ruled that the case would stay in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
The week before this order FDA won a crucial ruling denying much of the claims brought on by the three cigar trade groups.
The Texas case was set to begin oral arguments on June 26.