Information Collection under the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act

The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1333 et. seq., sets forth certain warnings that are required to appear on cigarette packaging and advertising. The Act requires cigarette manufacturers and importers to rotate these warnings on a quarterly basis. See id. However, under certain circumstances, manufacturers and importers with sales below a specified threshold can apply for equalization with respect to the rotation of the warnings on their packaging—meaning that they only need to display the statutorily prescribed warnings an equal number of times over the course of a year—instead of rotation “with respect to a brand style of cigarettes.” See 15 U.S.C. § 1333(c)(1) and (c)(2). Regardless of whether a manufacturer or importer chooses to apply for equalization, it must submit a plan, which is subject to the FTC’s approval and must establish how the manufacturer or importer plans to comply with the statutory labeling and advertising (if it intends to engage in advertising) requirements. See 15 U.S.C. § 1333(a). The applicant must also keep records demonstrating its compliance with the plan approved by the FTC. Manufacturers and importers may apply for equalization if “(i) the number of cigarettes of such brand style sold in the fiscal year of the manufacturer or importer preceding the submission of the application is less than one-fourth of 1 percent of all the cigarettes sold in the United States in such year, and (ii) more than one-half of the cigarettes manufactured or imported by such manufacturer or importer for sale in the United States are packaged into brand styles which meet the requirements of clause (i).” See 15 U.S.C. § 1333(c)(2)(A). Additionally, as part of this application, the manufacturer or importer must include “a plan describing how the manufacturer plans to achieve equalization within the twelve-month period.” See 15 U.S.C. § 1333(c)(2)(B). If the FTC approves the application for equalization, that approval is valid for one year from the date of the approval. See 15 U.S.C. § 1333(c)(2)(C). A manufacturer or importer that has received approval for quarterly rotation of the warnings on its packages does not need further approval from the Commission unless it intends to add new brands or brand styles to its previously-approved plan. Similarly, approval for an advertising plan does not expire, although the manufacturer or importer will need additional approval for new brands, types of advertising, or sizes of advertising formats.

The latest form for Information Collection under the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act expires 2027-03-31 and can be found here.