Krishnamoorthi, Wittman Follow Up with FDA in Push to Protect Children from Vaping by Prohibiting Illegal Imports from People’s Republic of China

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), partnered with Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA) in sending a follow up letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging them to work with the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency to prevent the importation of illegal vaping products from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which continue to fuel the youth vaping epidemic. These e-cigarettes and related accessories imported from the PRC constitute more than half of all vaping products sold in the United States.

In their bipartisan letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, the lawmakers emphasized the degree to which such PRC vaping products directly contribute to youth vaping by evading a national import ban. The letter also requests that the FDA Commissioner respond to the letter by March 1, 2024. The letter comes two months after the lawmakers and other members of the Committee sent an initial letter to the FDA and the Department of Justice about the harmful effects on vaping on December 7, 2023.

According to the latest data from the Agency, among youth who reported e-cigarette use, more than one in four used e-cigarettes daily in 2023, and over a third reported using e-cigarettes at least 20 days in a month. In addition, nine out of ten users preferred flavored e-cigarettes, with 56 percent of users using the most popular reported brand, Elf Bar,  which is made and illegally imported from the PRC.  These trends are deeply concerning and require the Agency to address the problem now. 

In response to the letter, President and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President, Yolonda C. Richardson, said the following:

“The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids strongly supports the call by Reps. Krishnamoorthi and Wittman for the FDA to step up enforcement against illicit e-cigarette products. Youth e-cigarette use remains a serious public health problem in the U.S. with 2.1 million kids using e-cigarettes and about 90% of them    using flavored products. We won’t end this threat to our kids’ health until the FDA clears the market of all flavored e-cigarettes.”

View the lawmakers' letter HERE. 

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