Senator Marco Rubio toured a Tampa premium cigar manufacturer Wednesday, as new government regulations threaten to cripple the industry.

  • New FDA regulations will make production more expensive
  • Cuban cigar manufacturers not required to follow FDA regulations
  • Senators Rubio, Bill Nelson working on creating exemptions for new regulations

New regulations from the Food and Drug Administration will make it more expensive for smaller cigar companies to operate.

Eric Newman, the president of J.C. Newman Cigar Company, says the new rules will mean job cuts.

“They came out with regulations, such as paying user fees and testing all the cigars we make," said Newman. "It would cost us over $2 million in compliance costs."

In addition, the regulations require companies to stop selling products created after 2007 unless the product undergoes costly safety testing.

“The end result, the worst case scenario is about half the people working here in Tampa will lose their jobs at some point, maybe more,” said Rubio, speaking after a tour of the cigar floor at Newman Cigars.

In addition, now that restrictions have been lifted on Cuban cigars, American companies say it will be all but impossible to compete, because Cuban companies won’t be required to follow FDA regulations.

“We have basically made our own native industry uncompetitive. It’s outrageous,” said Rubio.

Rubio, along with Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, are working on a bill that will exempt only premium cigar manufacturers from the new regulations. They hope to pass the legislation sometime in December.

Photo: Erin Maloney, staff