The Tennessee State Legislature has passed a bill that will establish a PMTA registry law in the state, and will also impose taxes on vaping products for the first time in Tennessee. The bill, SB 763, passed the State House with amendments to the original Senate bill on April 16, and the State Senate accepted the changes a day later.
The bill was sent to Governor Bill Lee on April 22 to be signed into law or vetoed. The bill had overwhelming support in both houses, so a veto could easily be overridden, but Lee is expected to sign it.
What will change for Tennessee vapers?
The Tennessee bill, like other PMTA registry (or directory) laws, was created by tobacco industry lobbyists who also promoted it in the legislature. Republican sponsors of the bill and its twin House bill claimed it was intended to protect Tennessee youth. The original version of the bill would have virtually wiped out vape shops in the state with a ban on all products except those with FDA authorization.
Energetic opposition, mostly by state vaping industry trade group the Tennessee Smoke Free Association, prevented the worst parts of the original bill from making it to the final draft that passed both houses.
The final bill includes these provisions:
- Imposes a 10 percent wholesale tax on all vapor products, beginning July 1, 2025.
- Establishes a state directory of products that can legally be sold in Tennessee. The state Department of Revenue will make the directory publicly available beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
- Manufacturers must certify under penalty of perjury, by Aug. 1, 2025, that products submitted for inclusion in the directory meet state requirements, and pay an annual fee of $25 for each product submitted for inclusion.
- Manufacturers must have submitted premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) on or before Sept. 9, 2020, and the PMTAs must have been accepted for filing.
- Products must have either received FDA marketing authorization; or still be under review by the FDA; or have received a marketing denial order (MDO) that has been stayed by a federal court order or by the FDA, or rescinded by the FDA or vacated by a court.
- Manufacturers must certify that “the consumable material of the vapor product was processed or blended in the United States at an FDA-registered facility and the consumable material of the vapor product did not come from a foreign adversarial country.”
- Products not included in the state directory can be sold by retailers until Jan. 1, 2027.
- Requires retailers to check the ID of any customer who appears to be under 50 years old.
- Imposes some advertising restrictions and increases penalties for retailers selling to underage customers.
The “consumable material” requirement essentially bans the sale of most disposable vapes—including popular brands like Lost Mary and Geek Bar—that use Chinese-made e-liquid. It is a gift to the few manufacturers (including the major tobacco companies) that fill their Chinese-made devices with U.S.-produced e-liquid, and will mostly affect disposable vape sales in convenience stores.
The bill largely leaves vape shops untouched—aside from the tax—assuming they’re able to find e-liquids that meet the PMTA requirements, and assuming lawmakers don’t decide to impose “adversarial country” restrictions on refillable Chinese devices.
Twelve states have already passed registry laws
This year, so far, about 20 state legislatures haveintroduced PMTA registry bills, and new laws have been adopted in Mississippi and Arkansas.
The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) has issued Calls to Action in several states so far this year, providing a simple way for consumers to oppose registry bills in their state. You can find all active CASAA Calls to Action here.
If Gov. Lee signs SB 763, Tennessee will become the 13th state with a registry law.
Before 2025, 10 states had passed registry laws. Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Utah have laws in place. North Carolina’s law takes effect May 1, and the Virginia and Wisconsin registry laws will become operational July 1. In Iowa, the law is on hold pending a court challenge.
Updated to note that products cannot be included in the directory unless PMTAs were submitted to the FDA by Sept. 9, 2020.
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