Utah and Iowa: Flavor Ban and Registry Laws On Hold For Now

Two U.S. states have paused enforcement of new PMTA registry laws, set to take effect early this year, following legal challenges from vaping industry interests. 

Utah and Iowa were among the six states that passed PMTA registry laws (described below) last year, as Big Tobacco lobbyists flooded state legislatures with campaign donations in exchange for introducing bills that would hamstring the independent vaping industry. 

More than two dozen registry bills were introduced in 2024 state legislative sessions.

Utah: a temporary restraining order granted just in time

Utah passed SB 61 last March, which included both a PMTA registry and a flavor ban. The legislation was quickly signed into law by Governor Spencer Cox, and enforcement was scheduled to begin Jan. 1, 2025. The bill included the following components:

• Bans the sale of vape products in flavors other than tobacco and menthol
• Bans the sale of products which have not either received FDA marketing authorization, or have premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) still under review by the FDA
• Bans the sale of all unauthorized synthetic nicotine products (even those with pending PMTAs)
• Limits nicotine content in e-liquid to 4% (40 mg/mL)
• Requires manufacturers to submit the names of products they intend to sell, with proof they meet state requirements and a $1,000 fee per product, to the state by Aug. 1, 2024
• Creates a list of state-approved products (a PMTA registry) by Oct. 1, 2024
• Bans the sale of all vape products not on the state registry beginning Jan. 1, 2025

Utah already prohibits online sales of vaping products to private individuals—making it the only state with an online sales ban, a flavor ban, and a PMTA registry. Even before SB 61 passed, the state restricted the sale of flavored vapes to state-licensed specialty tobacco outlets.

On Dec. 12, 2024, the Utah Vapor Business Association (UVBA—a state trade association) and a Utah business, The Smoke House, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Utah, asking the court to declare SB 61 unconstitutional and enjoin the state from enforcing the law. The plaintiffs also asked for a temporary restraining order preventing the state from enforcing the law until the court rules on the complaint.

On Dec. 30—just two days before Utah was scheduled to begin enforcing the law—U.S. District Court Judge David Barlow granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a restraining order, according to ABC4 News.

The restraining order allows vape product retailers to continue selling products not on the state registry at least until the case is decided.

Iowa: the state agrees to pause enforcement for now

Last spring, the Iowa legislature passed PMTA registry bill HF 2677, which was signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The bill included these elements:

• Creates a directory (or registry) of products by Oct. 1, 2024, that can be sold legally in Iowa. All manufacturers must certify under penalty of perjury that products they submit to the registry meet the state’s requirements
• Bans the sale of all vaping products except those that were on the market by Aug. 8, 2016, subject of a premarket tobacco application (PMTA) submitted to the FDA by Sept. 9, 2020, and either received FDA marketing authorization or are still under review by the agency
• Requires a $100 annual fee for each product listed
• Creates a system of fines for retail and wholesale violators

Because of the 2016 product cutoff, the Iowa law prohibits the sale of all products containing synthetic nicotine, which was rarely used before that date. The law also does not exempt products with FDA marketing denial orders (MDOs) being appealed in federal court.

As Vaping360 explained last month, Iowa vape industry association Iowans for Alternatives to Smoking & Tobacco (IFAST) and several individual vape businesses filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on Dec. 17, seeking a temporary injunction to prevent enforcement of the new law, and ultimately a ruling that would block the law permanently. Enforcement was scheduled to begin in early February.

On Dec. 26, the Iowa Attorney General agreed to postpone enforcement until the motion for a preliminary injunction is heard, and citing the state's need for more time to prepare to argue the case. The AG’s office proposed new filing deadlines in the case, and suggested a hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in early March.

The court granted the unopposed motion and, according to attorney Eric Heyer (who represents the vape industry plaintiffs), has set a hearing date for March 5.

What are PMTA registry laws?

PMTA registry laws mandate that state officials create a registry (or directory) of vape products that can be legally sold in the state. The registry typically includes only products that have already received authorization from the FDA or have a pending premarket tobacco application (PMTA) under review by the agency. Some also allow sales of products that have received a marketing denial order (MDO) but are being appealed in federal court (although Utah and Iowa do not allow those).

These laws have been designed by tobacco industry lobbyists to eliminate competition to their own cigarette and vape product offerings. Last year, more than two dozen registry bills were introduced in state legislatures, nearly all by Republican legislators. (Democrats have tended to follow tobacco control groups’ preference for flavor bans.) 

The earliest registry laws were passed in 2022 and 2023 in Alabama, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Those laws are in effect now, limiting vaping consumers to a small fraction of the vaping products available elsewhere. Wisconsin passed a registry bill in late 2023, which will take effect this year.

Last year, tobacco industry lobbyists were successful in getting typical registry bills passed in Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia, and a less-harmful bill in Florida. Most of those laws will take effect this year.