The FDA has accelerated its efforts to address illicit e-cigarettes products in the marketplace. Since the beginning of 2024, FDA filed "Civil Money Penalty (CMP)" complaints against 40 brick and mortar retailers selling Elf Bar and Esco Bar flavored disposable vapor products, which the FDA noted were the first and second most commonly used brands, respectively among youth e-cigarette users according the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey. In these cases, the amount being sought against each of the retailers is $20,678, which is the maximum penalty allowed for a single violation of the FDA tobacco regulations. From the FDA’s press release, "The FDA will continue to take compliance and enforcement action against those making, distributing, importing, or selling unauthorized e-cigarette products, including seeking CMPs against retailers who violate the law."
In March 2024, the FDA issued a new round of warning letters to 61 brick and mortar retailers for the sale of unauthorized disposable e-cigarettes. In the last year, there has been a significant increase in warning letters for selling flavored disposable products popular with youth. These actions have focused on major brands including Elf Bar/EB Design/EB CreateLava Plus, Funky Republic/Funky Lands, Lost Mary, Cali Bars, Hyde, and Kangvape.
With these recent FDA enforcement efforts, industry members need to be aware of on-going compliance with the federal law, including FDA regulations and Guidance, since the agency can take enforcement actions against not only retailers, but also wholesalers and manufacturers that sell new tobacco products lacking FDA authorization or otherwise not in compliance with FDA Regulations and Guidance.
NATO has been tracking FDA’s recent enforcement actions, and below are the brands FDA has cited as a basis for taking action. We expect this list to expand as FDA continues to ramp up enforcement actions:
- Elf Bar / EB Design
- Esco Bar
- Cali / Cali+
- Puff Bar
- Puff Plus
- Funky Republic
- Lost Mary
- Snowwolf
- Ban
- A+++
- KERG-BBK
- Lava
- Glamee
- Hyde
- KangVape
- Luckee
- BBK-RG
- Breeze
- FOUNS
- Game Puff
- JODK
- Lavie
- Puff Flow
- Puff Max
- Puff Xtra
- PURE
- VapeTape
- Vpro
- Airis
- AIS Krim
- Aquabar
- Beco Pro
- Blitz Bot-It
- Blow
- Bluum Lab
- Boss Bar
- DO3
- Dotmod
- Elf Tank
- Flair
- Fliq
- Friobar
- Fumot
- Gazzbar
- Highlight
- HQD Cuvie
- IJOY Bar
- Loaded
- Loon
- Mochivap
- MOTI
- Mr. Fog
- Myle
- Oly
- Puff XXL
- Quawins
- R&M
- RandM
- RG Plush
- Space V
- STIG
- Straw
- Super Bucks
- VAAL
- VapeCam
- Vapin Donuts
- VapMod
- Vaporlax
- Vaportech
- WDG
- ZOVOO
*Disclaimer: The brands in this list include flavored disposable e-vapor products that have been cited as unauthorized or illegally sold in FDA warning letters, civil money penalties, or import alerts. This is not an exhaustive list and it does not cover unauthorized or illegally sold pod-based or e-liquid products also cited by the FDA. Please note that just because a brand is identified does not necessarily mean that all SKUs in that brand family have been cited for enforcement. We strongly recommend that all retailers check with their suppliers to ascertain the status of each individual product. We further note that the fact that a brand is included in this list does not provide any commentary on the status of other non-vape categories of tobacco products that may bear the same or similar brand names.