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| FDA TOBACCO CONTROL BILL ADVANCES |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Maryland legislators discard two cigar-control billsLos Angeles, March 24 – The latest attack on tobacco, the Democratic plan to give oversight responsibilities to the Food and Drug Administration, is moving toward a vote in the House of Representatives. House Resolution (H.R.) 1108, the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act,” passed the House Subcommittee on Health by an 18-9 vote on March 11 and the battle over the bill – opposed by the Bush Administration – now moves to the full Committee on Energy and Commerce. Chris McCalla, legislative director for the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) circulated a note to the trade last week that indicated that the full committee “will try to take this up in April and the [full] House perhaps before Memorial Day. “Several things could cause delay but the House leadership wants to move this. In the Senate, given the schedule, Sen. [Richard] Burr [R-North Carolina] probably has the ability to block it given the tight schedule for floor time. However, if [Reynolds American] decides to throw in the towel, then Burr might let it go. In addition, Sen. [Edward] Kennedy [D-Massachusetts] is occupied with the campaign and may not want to devote the time to try to move it. The cynical view is why would the Democrats want to go now when the industry is funding their campaign? And there is always the possibility that the anti's will want to wait until next year and get an even more punitive bill.” A critical aspect of the current bill, according to McCalla, is that “though the legislation would grant the FDA authority over tobacco products, only cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco would be immediately subject to regulation. Cigars and pipe tobacco could only be included for regulation if the FDA proposes to do so through an administrative rulemaking process. To date, we do not expect that to come to fruition.” That’s an important item for cigar makers, since the bill is specific in giving the FDA authority over some manufacturing processes. In a summary of the bill prepared by the Cigar Association of America, emphasis is made on the language in section 901 of the text which states that the authority of the FDA “shall apply to all cigarettes, cigarette tobacco and smokeless tobacco and to any other tobacco products that the Secretary by regulation deems to be subject to this chapter.” That leaves out cigars for now, but they could be included later. The CAA also noted, with emphasis, that “in 1995, when the FDA proposed to regulate tobacco products on its own, it specifically chose to exclude cigars and pipe tobacco because the agency had no evidence of their being drug (nicotine) delivery devices, nor did it have significant evidence of usage by kids.” Further, the CAA’s reading of the bill indicates that fees to be collected under the bill to support the FDA’s regulatory efforts will only apply to those sectors of the tobacco industry which are regulated: “Because the only products subject to this chapter are cigarettes, [roll-your-own] and smokeless tobacco, no user fee will be assessed on cigars and pipe tobacco.” If cigars and pipe tobacco do become regulated, fees will be assessed on manufacturers and importers and, of course, passed on to consumers. |
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Did you know?
“Cigars, as we know them today, began serious production in Seville, Spain around 1676.
