When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the creation of a joint task force with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Trade Commission to combat the proliferation of illegal e-cigarettes in June, it promised this new joint venture would “bring all available criminal and civil tools to bear against the illegal distribution and sale of e-cigarettes responsible for nicotine addiction among American youth.” Months later, the agencies on the new task force have done little while illicit products continue to pour into the country. It’s time for Congress to call each agency involved to testify and determine why nothing has changed.  

This task force was created due to the ongoing flagrant violations of FDA regulations requiring all e-vapor products to submit product applications for review. These FDA regulations are being flagrantly ignored by numerous disposable e-vapor product manufacturers resulting in a tide of illicit vapes flooding into the country – tripling in just four years. Perhaps most concerning is that a significant number of these products are manufactured and distributed from China by companies tied to the Chinese Communist Party. Chinese-based flavored e-cigarette brands like Elf Bar are now the most popular products among American youth. 

It’s not hard to see what’s happening; Chinese tobacco companies are slipping their unregulated products into the country with no repercussions. This begs the question as to why the new joint task force hasn’t taken swift action. 

The FDA’s press release announcing the task force was so vague that a bipartisan group of Senators sent a letter to the head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, Dr. Brian King, requesting more information and expressing concerns over the FDA’s apparent lack of urgency. As the letter states, the senators were “deeply concerned about the inconsistency between FDA and DOJ’s public statements that there are only 27 FDA-authorized e-cigarettes and the reality that thousands of unauthorized e-cigarettes in kid-friendly flavors … are readily available for purchase.”

The FDA has done nothing to dissuade those concerns. During his recent testimony before the House Energy & Commerce Committee, the head of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products was surprisingly nonchalant about the issue of illicit Chinese vapes making their way into our country and downplayed the number of illicit vapes available in the U.S. When asked who was leading the task force effort to eliminate illicit products from the market, Dr. King acknowledged that he had no idea who was in charge, and admitted that he wasn’t personally on the task force or had so much as attended a meeting. That apathetic response – in the face of a problem attracting bipartisan scrutiny – is simply unacceptable.

It’s clear the agencies behind the task force aren’t taking enough swift or aggressive action – or any substantive action at all – to stop illegal e-cigarettes. Congress must hold them accountable for the American people whose taxes fund those agencies and who depend on these agencies to effectively do their jobs to keep people safe. 

Lawmakers should be demanding answers for why there have been so many holdups, why seizures of illicit goods seem nonexistent relative to the scale of the problem, and why those charged with managing product imports have been unable or unwilling to weed out illegal products. 

The FDA, DOJ and other agencies on the task force have so far failed to properly enforce their own laws or regulations, allowing Chinese companies financially supporting the CCP to ship illegal products unencumbered directly into our country and targeting our kids. The American people deserve to know what tangible steps are being taken by the new joint task force to combat this problem. The only way that will happen is if Congress forces them to answer tough and long-overdue questions and take action now.

Marco Lopez, is the former chief of staff at the United States Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection.