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  1. Market and Distribute a Tobacco Product

Tobacco Products Marketing Orders

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FDA works expeditiously to post all relevant documents for marketing orders. Please note that before these documents are posted, they are 1) redacted in accordance with applicable statutes and regulations and 2) reviewed to ensure compliance with Section 508, which requires that all website content be accessible to people with disabilities. Because of these requirements, relevant documents for marketing orders are usually posted several weeks after they are issued.

FDA regularly provides aggregate numbers and data on the progress of tobacco product applications that have been submitted on its Metrics & Reporting webpage.

Marketing a New Tobacco Product

To legally market a new tobacco product in the United States, a company must receive a written marketing order from FDA. FDA's traditional "safe and effective" standard for evaluating medical products does not apply to tobacco. Instead, FDA regulates tobacco products based on a public health standard intended to reduce the toll that tobacco product use takes on public health. Companies may receive marketing authorization through three types of submissions: Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTA), Substantial Equivalence (SE) Reports and Exemption from Substantial Equivalence Requests (EX REQ). 

Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTA)

A PMTA may be submitted to seek marketing authorization for any new tobacco product. PMTAs are evaluated based on several factors, including whether permitting the marketing of a new tobacco product would be appropriate for the protection of the public health, which is determined with respect to the risks and benefits of the product to the population as a whole, including users and non-users.

Marketing Granted Orders 

  • View all marketing granted order letters, decision summaries, environmental assessments (EA), and Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

Substantial Equivalence (SE) Reports

A SE Report can be submitted by any manufacturer for any new tobacco product seeking an FDA substantially equivalent order. A new tobacco product may be found “substantially equivalent” to a valid predicate product where it has the same characteristics as that predicate product, or if the product has different characteristics, it does not raise different questions of public health than the predicate product. 

SE Orders

  • View all SE order letters, decision summaries, EAs, and FONSIs

Provisional Not Substantially Equivalent (NSE) Orders

  • View all provisional tobacco products issued NSE orders

Provisional SE Products Removed from Review (CSV – 71 KB)

  • View the list of provisional products that have been removed from review 

Exemption from Substantial Equivalence Requests (EX REQ)

An EX REQ can be submitted by the original manufacturer for any new tobacco product seeking an FDA exemption order. A tobacco product that is modified by adding or deleting a tobacco additive, or by increasing or decreasing the quantity of an existing tobacco additive may be considered for an exemption from demonstrating SE.

Found Exempt Orders

Additional Resources

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