On the evening of October 8, U.S. District Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani denied the premium cigar industry’s emergency request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to postpone California’s Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL) filing deadline, which takes effect today, October 9. The court’s decision was based on procedural considerations rather than the merits of the case.
As a result, the broader legal challenge to the UTL regulation, filed on October 3, remains ongoing and will proceed through the judicial process. In her decision, Judge Ramírez based her denial of the TRO on technical grounds, but, importantly, Judge Ramírez didn’t rule on the merits of the challenge that was filed on Friday, October 3rd.
Because the TRO was denied, the October 9 application deadline remains in place. As previously said by the Attorney General’s Office, submitting applications by today’s deadline is the only way to ensure that products are reviewed and considered for inclusion before the state’s initial UTL publication, which is expected on or before December 31, 2025.
Although the Attorney General’s office has indicated that it will accept filings after the deadline, products submitted after October 9 are not guaranteed inclusion on the initial list, complicating or even blocking importation into California for products not submitted by October 9th. State officials have stated that they will review late applications as quickly as possible and will make efforts to include as many qualifying products as they can in the first release.
The Attorney General’s office also filed a formal opposition late last night to the industry’s request for a preliminary injunction, an action that was anticipated.
The legal counsels of the PCA and CRA are reviewing both the opposition and the court’s order to determine the next steps and to continue pursuing all available legal avenues to protect the interests of the premium cigar industry from this arbitrary and burdensome regulation.
