On August 25, according to foreign reports, the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has updated the term "grandfather tobacco products" to "pre-existing tobacco products" to more appropriately describe these products.

Also, according to the FDA, the term grandfather, when used to describe someone or something not subject to new laws or regulations, has its roots in racist voting laws in the 19th century.

As with previous products, a pre-existing tobacco product is any tobacco product (including those in test markets) that was commercially sold in the United States as of February 15, 2007.

As is the case with filing a grandfather determination request, filing a request to determine the pre-existing status of a tobacco product is voluntary and not required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Under the CTP, a term update does not require the company to have a pending grandfather determination request for additional action.