WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court is saying the FDA cannot stop imports of electronic cigarettes.

The FDA wants to regulate e-cigarettes as a drug-device and
last year ordered that a shipment could not enter the United States.

But Sottera Inc. of Arizona,
which does business as e-cigarette distributor NJOY, says in a lawsuit that its
product cannot be regulated as a drug-device.

Instead, the company says it is a tobacco product since it’s
derived from tobacco plants. The court agreed in its ruling.

E-cigarettes operate with a heating element and a battery.
Users inhale a vaporized liquid nicotine mixture much the way traditional
smokers inhale smoke, but without fire, smoke, ash or carbon monoxide.