Federal health regulators and law enforcement officials announced on Monday that they would collaborate more closely to crack down on the sale of illegal electronic cigarettes, which have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States while evading government oversight.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would establish a new task force to address this issue in partnership with the Department of Justice and several other agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service.
Although the FDA has authorized a small number of e-cigarettes for adult smokers seeking alternatives to traditional cigarettes, it has rejected applications for millions of other proposed products.
Despite these efforts, thousands of unauthorized vaping products continue to enter the U.S. market, primarily from China. Among these products are major disposable vape brands such as Elf Bar, which was the most popular e-cigarette among underage teens last year, according to federal data.
The announcement from the FDA and the Justice Department comes just two days before a Senate hearing that will examine the lack of government enforcement action against manufacturers and sellers of unauthorized e-cigarettes.
The multi-agency task force was originally proposed by outside experts in 2022 as part of a scathing critique of the FDA’s tobacco program. These experts echoed long-standing grievances from groups on both sides of the vaping debate. Public health groups want the FDA to take a more aggressive stance against illegal flavored e-cigarettes that appeal to teenagers, while tobacco companies argue that the FDA is reluctant to approve newer e-cigarettes that could help adults quit smoking.
In recent years, the FDA has sent hundreds of warning letters to vape shops and e-cigarette manufacturers, demanding that they remove or discontinue their products.
However, these letters are sometimes ignored, and FDA officials have increasingly acknowledged that they rely on the Justice Department to file lawsuits against offenders.
It was only last year that the FDA announced the first fines against vaping companies for selling unauthorized e-cigarettes.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.