ALEXANDRIA, VA - NACS is recommending that e-cigarettes be placed in category 03-00-00 Other Tobacco under subcategory 03-06-00 Other Tobacco Products of the most recent version of NACS Category Definitions, v7.0. The NACS Research Committee and feedback from retailers and e-cig manufactures helped guide this decision.

The decision was also based on legal precedence from an FDA/tobacco case law that was upheld in federal appellate court on Dec. 7, 2010. The period for appeal has expired. It is to be considered an Other Tobacco Product (even though there is no tobacco in it) and regulated like cigarettes by the FDA.

The NACS Category Definitions were introduced in 1997 to standardize measurement of category performance in the convenience channel. An updated version of the NACS Category Definitions (v7.1) will be released during the NACS Show, October 1 to 4 in Chicago. A current version (v7.0) of the NACS Category Definitions is available online.