Industry News
The Cigar Jobs Act: Congress Moves to Lock In Premium Cigars' FDA Exemption
Premium cigar makers won a major court victory this spring when a federal judge again ruled that handmade cigars aren't subject to the FDA's cigarette-style rules. Now lawmakers want to make that protection permanent. A bill moving through Congress — the Cigar Jobs Act — would write the premium-cigar exemption into federal law, so it no longer depends on the outcome of ongoing litigation.
What the bill would do
The Senate version, S. 3922, titled the Cigar Jobs Act of 2026, was introduced on February 25, 2026. It would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to clarify that the FDA's jurisdiction does not extend to "traditional large and premium cigars," and it would shield those products from the user fees other tobacco products must pay to the agency.
There is also a House companion, H.R. 2111, introduced in March 2025 by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) with a bipartisan group of original co-sponsors including Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), according to Cigar Aficionado.
How "premium cigar" gets defined
Rather than invent a new standard, the legislation leans on the definition established in the cigar industry's court fight before Judge Amit P. Mehta. To qualify as a traditional large or premium cigar, a product must be:
- Wrapped in whole tobacco leaf, with a 100% leaf-tobacco binder
- Made with at least 50% long-filler tobacco by weight
- Hand-rolled, without machinery beyond simple cutting tools
- Free of filters, non-tobacco tips, and characterizing flavors or additives
- Heavier than six pounds per 1,000 units
Notably, that definition excludes flavored, machine-made, and filtered cigars — which would remain under FDA oversight. The bill targets the handmade premium segment specifically.
Why the industry wants it in statute
Cigar makers have spent years fighting the FDA's 2016 "deeming" rule in court, and they've largely prevailed — most recently in an April 2026 D.C. district court decision reaffirming the exemption. But court wins can be appealed or revisited, and regulations can shift with administrations. Codifying the exemption would give manufacturers and retailers more certainty about product approvals, testing, and fees. FDA's Proposed Registration Rule continues to draw pushback from the industry as these legal battles evolve.
Industry advocates frame it as a jobs-and-small-business issue. Mike Copperman, executive director of Cigar Rights of America, put it plainly, saying the legislation is about preserving an industry, not just regulation.
The counterpoint
Public-health groups have long argued that carving premium cigars out of FDA authority weakens oversight of products that still carry real health risks, and that "premium" definitions can be gamed. Passage is far from guaranteed: the bill must clear both chambers, and tobacco legislation often stalls. For now, the exemption still rests primarily on the courts.
What it means for shoppers and retailers
If the exemption is written into law, buyers could see a steadier stream of new handmade releases, since premium makers wouldn't face the FDA's premarket-review bottleneck. It would not change the rules for flavored, filtered, or machine-made cigars, such as White Owl White Grape Cigarillos or Middleton's Black & Mild Regular, which stay under FDA scope. And regardless of federal status, cigars remain age-restricted products subject to state and local law, with new cigar taxes often taking effect at the state level.
The bottom line
The Cigar Jobs Act represents a shift from winning in court to winning in statute — an effort to make the premium-cigar exemption durable rather than dependent on the next ruling. Whether it passes is an open question, but the push underscores how central the "premium" definition has become to what reaches cigar shelves, even as premium cigar imports slip slightly in a cooling market. For those seeking traditional options, brands like Factory Throwouts No. 49 Premium Cigars continue to offer the handmade experience the bill seeks to protect.