Latest news with #FDA-regulated
USA Today
03-07-2025
- Health
- USA Today
How to keep your pets calm during Fourth of July fireworks
Get out the grill and prepare to celebrate Independence Day with BBQs, lawn chairs, and delicious food! The Fourth of July is perfect for gathering with friends, family, and pets. Just remember, while fireworks are fun for many, they can be frightening for some animals. Loud noises like fireworks or thunderstorms are the cause of nearly one in five lost pets, a survey from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found. While we celebrate our Independence Day, here's how to keep your four-legged friends safe and happy: Petting your dog If possible, your dog should stay home with at least one human so it can be reassured if it gets anxious. Stay with your pet in a room that has minimal windows and play soft music or a movie to distract from fireworks and other noises. A little affection goes a long way – one of the best ways to calm your dog down is to give it strong, firm pats to let it know you're there, says veterinarian Diana Watkins, who owns 143 Veterinary Services in Massachusetts. Thundershirt You can try anxiety-reducing devices like a Thundershirt, which acts like a weighted blanket to soothe your dog. Medication For extra-nervous dogs, there are situational anxiety medications your vet can prescribe. They can be helpful during loud sensory events like thunderstorms and fireworks or when you're leaving your dog alone for longer than normal. Watkins advises giving your dog only veterinary-grade products because over-the-counter anti-anxiety and CBD supplements are often not FDA-regulated and can be harmful to your pup. Collar with ID Make sure your pet has an ID tag on at all times, or invest in a GPS locator for its collar if your pet isn't microchipped. Take a walk before nighttime It's a good idea to time walks earlier in the day before the fireworks start. Keep your dog on lead if you think fireworks will be set off. Consider Hiring a Trainer If fireworks and fear is impacting your animal, you can consider hiring a trainer. Working with a trainer of behavior consultant to desensitize your dog to fireworks gradually. It's never to late to plan for the next fireworks event. Sources: USA TODAY Network reporting and research; American Kennel Club
Business Insider
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Novo Nordisk, WeightWatchers expand collaboration
WW International (WGHTH) 'announced an expanded collaboration with Novo Nordisk (NVO), which includes increased access to authentic, FDA-approved Wegovy injection through WeightWatchers (WGHTQ) Clinic. As the only holistic platform focused on long-term weight health featuring the No. 1 doctor-recommended weight loss program included in the recently announced collaboration with Novo Nordisk, WeightWatchers continues to reinforce its role as the trusted leader in sustainable, science-backed weight care, and one of the few in the industry to publicly commit to prescribing only FDA-approved medications. As part of the collaboration, WeightWatchers Clinic members will benefit from a simplified prescription process via NovoCare Pharmacy. CenterWell Pharmacy, a seven-time MMIT Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for best-in-class customer satisfaction and commitment to patient care, serves as the dispensing pharmacy for the NovoCare program and will facilitate direct fulfillment and home delivery of Wegovy prescriptions for WeightWatchers Clinic members. In addition, WeightWatchers will enhance the member experience by providing integrated account access, bundled pricing opportunities, inventory visibility, and shipment tracking. Additionally, Novo Nordisk is offering a limited-time savings offer available to WeightWatchers Clinic members. Starting July 1, 2025, eligible cash-pay members can access Wegovy at a reduced price of $299 until July 31, 2025-a significant savings aimed at expanding access to clinically validated, FDA-regulated treatment options.'
Kuwait Times
23-06-2025
- Business
- Kuwait Times
How middlemen funnel illegal Chinese vapes into America
One customs broker handled 60% of vape shipments from China in 2024 LONDON: From an office a 15-minute drive from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one small firm helped import millions of unauthorized Chinese-made vapes last year alone, forming a key link in the supply chain feeding US demand for illegal e-cigarettes. In a little over four years, the firm, a customs brokerage run by a man named Jay Kim, became a go-to broker for the Chinese vape industry. The firm worked on 60 percent of all shipments of vapes and vape parts from China to the US in 2024 registered by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Reuters analysis. 'A lot of them have FDA authorization,' Kim said in an interview in his office in April, referring to the vape shipments his firm handled. However, FDA data on imports into the US of FDA-regulated goods such as tobacco products or medicines showed the products Kim's firm helped bring into the United States included unauthorized brands like Lost Mary and Geek Bar. The FDA has declared those brands illegal to import or sell, warning their array of fruit and candy flavors may appeal to children. The agency says nicotine can harm developing brains, and impact attention, learning and mood in young people, who can get hooked more easily on the addictive chemical. A Lost Mary spokesperson said it had no connection or contact with Kim's firm, and flavors play a key role in helping adult users quit smoking. The maker of Geek Bar did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese city of Shenzhen is the biggest source of vapes, both legal and illegal, coming into the United States. In 2024, China exported more than 26 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) in vapes to the US, according to Chinese customs data. But US customs figures show only $333 million in Chinese vapes were officially received in the US that same year. Mismatches in custom data between the US and its trading partners are not uncommon, but a 90 percent gap was unusual, two customs data specialists told Reuters. Unauthorized vapes often arrive in the US disguised as other items like shoes and toys, according to the FDA, which leads efforts to control the vape market. Reuters used FDA and US customs data, interviews with vape and tobacco industry insiders, and information from US regulators and law enforcement to build a picture of how unauthorized vapes make their way onto US shelves. It found a group of middlemen based on US soil - including some customs brokers and distributors - who played key roles in the vape supply chain, and sometimes take steps to avoid detection. Trump Administration officials have promised a crackdown; FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has said the agency will stop illegal imports and distribution. 'Our borders have been far too porous when it comes to challenges like illegal e-cigarette products coming from other countries,' an FDA spokesperson said, adding that the agency is planning to use artificial intelligence to 'stem the flow of products that are appealing to our nation's children.' In May, the FDA and Customs and Border Protection announced a $34 million seizure of unauthorized vapes in Chicago. Officials found many of the shipments in the seizure, which took place in February, contained vague product descriptions and incorrect values. As part of the operation, for the first time, the agency sent letters to 24 middlemen involved in the vape supply chain, including US importers and customs brokers. The letters warned the middlemen it was a crime to make false statements to the government, and asked them to explain how they ensured they followed tobacco laws, according to the FDA. Reuters was not able to establish whether Kim was among the customs brokers who received a letter from the FDA. He did not respond to detailed questions about Reuters' findings. Vape middlemen Customs brokers do not buy or sell goods themselves. Rather, they are paid by others, usually the importer, to help navigate the customs process by submitting documents and fielding enquiries from border officials, according to Lenny Feldman, a managing partner at the law firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg. Customs brokers may be breaking the law if they are found to have not conducted proper due diligence, said Feldman. Speaking briefly to Reuters at his office in April, Kim said his firm did not deal with vape shipments anymore after exiting the business last year. He said that a former employee of his firm had gotten him into working with vape clients and took those customers with her when she left. However, the FDA data reviewed by Reuters showed that vape-related shipments handled by Kim have continued throughout 2025, including in June. The FDA, which was directed to fire 3,500 employees in March, works with CBP to catch unauthorized vape shipments at the border. A spokesperson for CBP told Reuters the agency seized over 3 million units of illegal vapes valued at $76 million in 2024. 'CBP has encountered bad actors exploiting shipments to transit illicit goods, including illegal vapes, synthetic opioids, precursor chemicals and related paraphernalia,' the spokesperson said. The FDA said that over the past two years, efforts by FDA and CBP had led to the seizure of around 7.1 million e-cigarettes with an estimated retail value of over $136 million. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration would 'wipe out' fruity and sweet flavored vapes from China that appeal to kids. 'We are going to get rid of all of them,' he told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in May. Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said middlemen like Kim bear some responsibility for the flood of vapes, but lays most of the blame with the FDA, which he accuses of sitting idle while illegal vapes flood into the country. 'The FDA is a disaster. It's asleep at the switch,' he said. 'You have illicit vapes all over the place.' In plain sight The Trump Administration's tariffs on China, as well as vape seizures, have already dented supply, Reuters reported this month. Vape shipments recorded by the FDA collapsed in May, with a shortage of popular brand Geek Bar in particular. The FDA has authorized 34 different vape products made by companies like British American Tobacco and Altria, but no fruity or sweet flavored vapes that the FDA says could appeal to children. And yet executives at BAT estimate unauthorized devices make up 70 percent of vape sales in the US, valuing their sales at $8.14 billion last year. The supply chain ferrying illegal Chinese-made vapes into the US mostly operates in plain sight. It starts with a network of exporters based in China. After a vape shipment clears customs in the US, it is passed along to its US buyer - usually a distributor, which then sells them to smaller wholesalers and retailers nationwide. The FDA collects data on US-based recipients of vape shipments. The largest in 2024 was Reynolds American, the US subsidiary of BAT. But the top ten largest US vape recipients also included six obscure firms, opened in 2023 or 2024 and sometimes operating out of residential homes. The second-largest recipient of vape shipments in 2024 was a Chicago-based company called Somo Trade LLC, established in 2023, Reuters analysis of FDA data and state business filings show. A woman at the business' address, a residential home on Chicago's north side, told a Reuters reporter that the property was not involved in the vape business. Another recipient of vapes, Rongda Trade, is registered to a house on the same street as Somo Trade, opened the same month, and has already been shut down, its filings show. No one answered the door when Reuters visited the address. No one answered at a residential address linked to Lila Trade on Chicago's southwest side, either. The name of the registered agent, Xiaohong Dai, was not among those listed on four mailboxes out front. Reuters could not find websites for any of the firms, and their state business filings did not contain any contact information. Meanwhile, in February, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued 13 different companies which she said were major US vape distributors, accusing them of working closely with Chinese manufacturers to fuel the unauthorized vape industry. 'Together, Defendants have established an industry for flavored e-cigarettes, particularly disposable vapes, and staked out their own lucrative shares in the soaring market,' the complaint states. 'All have engaged in reprehensible, illegal conduct and aim to addict youth to their products.' Mitch Zeller, former head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products during the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, placed the blame on US-based distributors, such as those named in James' lawsuit, for feeding demand. 'There's only a handful of middlemen, middle companies, that are responsible for taking the illegal, imported stuff being misclassified and mislabeled and getting it into interstate commerce,' he said. — Reuters
NDTV
23-06-2025
- Business
- NDTV
How Illegal Chinese Vapes Are Being Funneled Into US
From an office a 15-minute drive from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one small firm helped import millions of unauthorized Chinese-made vapes last year alone, forming a key link in the supply chain feeding U.S. demand for illegal e-cigarettes. In a little over four years, the firm, a customs brokerage run by a man named Jay Kim, became a go-to broker for the Chinese vape industry. The firm worked on 60% of all shipments of vapes and vape parts from China to the U.S. in 2024 registered by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Reuters analysis. "A lot of them have FDA authorization," Kim said in an interview in his office in April, referring to the vape shipments his firm handled. However, FDA data on imports into the U.S. of FDA-regulated goods such as tobacco products or medicines showed the products Kim's firm helped bring into the United States included unauthorized brands like Lost Mary and Geek Bar. The FDA has declared those brands illegal to import or sell, warning their array of fruit and candy flavours may appeal to children. The agency says nicotine can harm developing brains, and impact attention, learning and mood in young people, who can get hooked more easily on the addictive chemical. A Lost Mary spokesperson said it had no connection or contact with Kim's firm, and flavours play a key role in helping adult users quit smoking. The maker of Geek Bar did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese city of Shenzhen is the biggest source of vapes, both legal and illegal, coming into the United States. In 2024, China exported more than 26 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) in vapes to the U.S., according to Chinese customs data. But U.S. customs figures show only $333 million in Chinese vapes were officially received in the U.S. that same year. Mismatches in custom data between the U.S. and its trading partners are not uncommon, but a 90% gap was unusual, two customs data specialists told Reuters. Unauthorized vapes often arrive in the U.S. disguised as other items like shoes and toys, according to the FDA, which leads efforts to control the vape market. Reuters used FDA and U.S. customs data, interviews with vape and tobacco industry insiders, and information from U.S. regulators and law enforcement to build a picture of how unauthorized vapes make their way onto U.S. shelves. It found a group of middlemen based on U.S. soil - including some customs brokers and distributors - who played key roles in the vape supply chain, and sometimes take steps to avoid detection. Trump Administration officials have promised a crackdown; FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has said the agency will stop illegal imports and distribution. "Our borders have been far too porous when it comes to challenges like illegal e-cigarette products coming from other countries," an FDA spokesperson said, adding that the agency is planning to use artificial intelligence to "stem the flow of products that are appealing to our nation's children." In May, the FDA and Customs and Border Protection announced a $34 million seizure of unauthorized vapes in Chicago. Officials found many of the shipments in the seizure, which took place in February, contained vague product descriptions and incorrect values. As part of the operation, for the first time, the agency sent letters to 24 middlemen involved in the vape supply chain, including U.S. importers and customs brokers. The letters warned the middlemen it was a crime to make false statements to the government, and asked them to explain how they ensured they followed tobacco laws, according to the FDA. Reuters was not able to establish whether Kim was among the customs brokers who received a letter from the FDA. He did not respond to detailed questions about Reuters' findings. VAPE MIDDLEMEN Customs brokers do not buy or sell goods themselves. Rather, they are paid by others, usually the importer, to help navigate the customs process by submitting documents and fielding enquiries from border officials, according to Lenny Feldman, a managing partner at the law firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg. Customs brokers may be breaking the law if they are found to have not conducted proper due diligence, said Feldman. Speaking briefly to Reuters at his office in April, Kim said his firm did not deal with vape shipments anymore after exiting the business last year. He said that a former employee of his firm had gotten him into working with vape clients and took those customers with her when she left. However, the FDA data reviewed by Reuters showed that vape-related shipments handled by Kim have continued throughout 2025, including in June. The FDA, which was directed to fire 3,500 employees in March, works with CBP to catch unauthorized vape shipments at the border. A spokesperson for CBP told Reuters the agency seized over 3 million units of illegal vapes valued at $76 million in 2024. "CBP has encountered bad actors exploiting shipments to transit illicit goods, including illegal vapes, synthetic opioids, precursor chemicals and related paraphernalia," the spokesperson said. The FDA said that over the past two years, efforts by FDA and CBP had led to the seizure of around 7.1 million e-cigarettes with an estimated retail value of over $136 million. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration would "wipe out" fruity and sweet flavoured vapes from China that appeal to kids. "We are going to get rid of all of them," he told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in May. Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said middlemen like Kim bear some responsibility for the flood of vapes, but lays most of the blame with the FDA, which he accuses of sitting idle while illegal vapes flood into the country. "The FDA is a disaster. It's asleep at the switch," he said. "You have illicit vapes all over the place." IN PLAIN SIGHT The Trump Administration's tariffs on China, as well as vape seizures, have already dented supply, Reuters reported this month. Vape shipments recorded by the FDA collapsed in May, with a shortage of popular brand Geek Bar in particular. The FDA has authorized 34 different vape products made by companies like British American Tobacco and Altria, but no fruity or sweet flavoured vapes that the FDA says could appeal to children. And yet executives at BAT estimate unauthorized devices make up 70% of vape sales in the U.S., valuing their sales at $8.14 billion last year. The supply chain ferrying illegal Chinese-made vapes into the U.S. mostly operates in plain sight. It starts with a network of exporters based in China. After a vape shipment clears customs in the U.S., it is passed along to its U.S. buyer - usually a distributor, which then sells them to smaller wholesalers and retailers nationwide. The FDA collects data on U.S.-based recipients of vape shipments. The largest in 2024 was Reynolds American, the U.S. subsidiary of BAT. But the top ten largest U.S. vape recipients also included six obscure firms, opened in 2023 or 2024 and sometimes operating out of residential homes. The second-largest recipient of vape shipments in 2024 was a Chicago-based company called Somo Trade LLC, established in 2023, Reuters analysis of FDA data and state business filings show. A woman at the business' address, a residential home on Chicago's north side, told a Reuters reporter that the property was not involved in the vape business. Another recipient of vapes, Rongda Trade, is registered to a house on the same street as Somo Trade, opened the same month, and has already been shut down, its filings show. No one answered the door when Reuters visited the address. No one answered at a residential address linked to Lila Trade on Chicago's southwest side, either. The name of the registered agent, Xiaohong Dai, was not among those listed on four mailboxes out front. Reuters could not find websites for any of the firms, and their state business filings did not contain any contact information. Meanwhile, in February, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued 13 different companies which she said were major U.S. vape distributors, accusing them of working closely with Chinese manufacturers to fuel the unauthorized vape industry. "Together, Defendants have established an industry for flavored e-cigarettes, particularly disposable vapes, and staked out their own lucrative shares in the soaring market," the complaint states. "All have engaged in reprehensible, illegal conduct and aim to addict youth to their products." Mitch Zeller, former head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products during the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, placed the blame on U.S.-based distributors, such as those named in James' lawsuit, for feeding demand. "There's only a handful of middlemen, middle companies, that are responsible for taking the illegal, imported stuff being misclassified and mislabeled and getting it into interstate commerce," he said.
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
How middlemen funnel illegal Chinese vapes into the United States
A small firm near Chicago is under scrutiny for importing millions of unauthorized Chinese vapes into the U.S., becoming a key player in the illegal e-cigarette supply chain. Despite FDA warnings about the appeal of these flavored vapes to children, large quantities continue to enter the country, often mislabeled. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads From an office a 15-minute drive from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one small firm helped import millions of unauthorized Chinese-made vapes last year alone, forming a key link in the supply chain feeding U.S. demand for illegal a little over four years, the firm, a customs brokerage run by a man named Jay Kim, became a go-to broker for the Chinese vape industry. The firm worked on 60% of all shipments of vapes and vape parts from China to the U.S. in 2024 registered by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Reuters analysis."A lot of them have FDA authorization," Kim said in an interview in his office in April, referring to the vape shipments his firm FDA data on imports into the U.S. of FDA-regulated goods such as tobacco products or medicines showed the products Kim's firm helped bring into the United States included unauthorized brands like Lost Mary and Geek FDA has declared those brands illegal to import or sell, warning their array of fruit and candy flavors may appeal to children. The agency says nicotine can harm developing brains, and impact attention, learning and mood in young people, who can get hooked more easily on the addictive chemical.A Lost Mary spokesperson said it had no connection or contact with Kim's firm, and flavors play a key role in helping adult users quit smoking. The maker of Geek Bar did not respond to a request for Chinese city of Shenzhen is the biggest source of vapes, both legal and illegal, coming into the United States. In 2024, China exported more than 26 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) in vapes to the U.S., according to Chinese customs data. But U.S. customs figures show only $333 million in Chinese vapes were officially received in the U.S. that same in custom data between the U.S. and its trading partners are not uncommon, but a 90% gap was unusual, two customs data specialists told Reuters. Unauthorized vapes often arrive in the U.S. disguised as other items like shoes and toys, according to the FDA, which leads efforts to control the vape used FDA and U.S. customs data, interviews with vape and tobacco industry insiders, and information from U.S. regulators and law enforcement to build a picture of how unauthorized vapes make their way onto U.S. found a group of middlemen based on U.S. soil - including some customs brokers and distributors - who played key roles in the vape supply chain, and sometimes take steps to avoid detection. Trump Administration officials have promised a crackdown; FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has said the agency will stop illegal imports and distribution."Our borders have been far too porous when it comes to challenges like illegal e-cigarette products coming from other countries," an FDA spokesperson said, adding that the agency is planning to use artificial intelligence to "stem the flow of products that are appealing to our nation's children."In May, the FDA and Customs and Border Protection announced a $34 million seizure of unauthorized vapes in Chicago. Officials found many of the shipments in the seizure, which took place in February, contained vague product descriptions and incorrect part of the operation, for the first time, the agency sent letters to 24 middlemen involved in the vape supply chain, including U.S. importers and customs letters warned the middlemen it was a crime to make false statements to the government, and asked them to explain how they ensured they followed tobacco laws, according to the was not able to establish whether Kim was among the customs brokers who received a letter from the FDA. He did not respond to detailed questions about Reuters' brokers do not buy or sell goods themselves. Rather, they are paid by others, usually the importer, to help navigate the customs process by submitting documents and fielding enquiries from border officials, according to Lenny Feldman, a managing partner at the law firm Sandler, Travis & brokers may be breaking the law if they are found to have not conducted proper due diligence, said briefly to Reuters at his office in April, Kim said his firm did not deal with vape shipments anymore after exiting the business last said that a former employee of his firm had gotten him into working with vape clients and took those customers with her when she the FDA data reviewed by Reuters showed that vape-related shipments handled by Kim have continued throughout 2025, including in June. The FDA, which was directed to fire 3,500 employees in March, works with CBP to catch unauthorized vape shipments at the border.A spokesperson for CBP told Reuters the agency seized over 3 million units of illegal vapes valued at $76 million in 2024. "CBP has encountered bad actors exploiting shipments to transit illicit goods, including illegal vapes, synthetic opioids, precursor chemicals and related paraphernalia," the spokesperson FDA said that over the past two years, efforts by FDA and CBP had led to the seizure of around 7.1 million e-cigarettes with an estimated retail value of over $136 of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration would "wipe out" fruity and sweet flavored vapes from China that appeal to kids. "We are going to get rid of all of them," he told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said middlemen like Kim bear some responsibility for the flood of vapes, but lays most of the blame with the FDA, which he accuses of sitting idle while illegal vapes flood into the country."The FDA is a disaster. It's asleep at the switch," he said. "You have illicit vapes all over the place."IN PLAIN SIGHT The Trump Administration's tariffs on China, as well as vape seizures, have already dented supply, Reuters reported this month. Vape shipments recorded by the FDA collapsed in May, with a shortage of popular brand Geek Bar in FDA has authorized 34 different vape products made by companies like British American Tobacco and Altria , but no fruity or sweet flavored vapes that the FDA says could appeal to yet executives at BAT estimate unauthorized devices make up 70% of vape sales in the U.S., valuing their sales at $8.14 billion last supply chain ferrying illegal Chinese-made vapes into the U.S. mostly operates in plain starts with a network of exporters based in China. After a vape shipment clears customs in the U.S., it is passed along to its U.S. buyer - usually a distributor, which then sells them to smaller wholesalers and retailers FDA collects data on U.S.-based recipients of vape shipments. The largest in 2024 was Reynolds American, the U.S. subsidiary of the top ten largest U.S. vape recipients also included six obscure firms, opened in 2023 or 2024 and sometimes operating out of residential second-largest recipient of vape shipments in 2024 was a Chicago-based company called Somo Trade LLC , established in 2023, Reuters analysis of FDA data and state business filings show.A woman at the business' address, a residential home on Chicago's north side, told a Reuters reporter that the property was not involved in the vape recipient of vapes, Rongda Trade, is registered to a house on the same street as Somo Trade , opened the same month, and has already been shut down, its filings show. No one answered the door when Reuters visited the one answered at a residential address linked to Lila Trade on Chicago's southwest side, either. The name of the registered agent, Xiaohong Dai, was not among those listed on four mailboxes out could not find websites for any of the firms, and their state business filings did not contain any contact in February, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued 13 different companies which she said were major U.S. vape distributors, accusing them of working closely with Chinese manufacturers to fuel the unauthorized vape industry."Together, Defendants have established an industry for flavored e-cigarettes, particularly disposable vapes, and staked out their own lucrative shares in the soaring market," the complaint states. "All have engaged in reprehensible, illegal conduct and aim to addict youth to their products."Mitch Zeller, former head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products during the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, placed the blame on U.S.-based distributors, such as those named in James' lawsuit, for feeding demand."There's only a handful of middlemen, middle companies, that are responsible for taking the illegal, imported stuff being misclassified and mislabeled and getting it into interstate commerce," he said.
