The House, which first passed a similar FDA bill in April, voted 307 to 97 to endorse the version passed 79 to 17 by the Senate on Thursday. (Click here for the roll call. Andclick here for the text of the H.R. 1256 and other details.)
Altria Group, New York, parent company of Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest tobacco company, issued a statement Thursday supporting the legislation and saying it approved "tough but reasonable federal regulation of tobacco products" by the FDA. Conceding that the bill is "not perfect," it said the "legislation would establish a regulatory structure and standards for the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products that should provide important benefits to adult consumers." It would make all manufacturers "operate at the same high standards," encourage "the pursuit of tobacco product alternatives" and provide more accurate information to consumers.
Rival companies have voiced opposition. Maura Payne, spokesperson for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc., told CSP Daily News, "Over the existence of the bill, we have had some issues with provisions of the bill that were either present or lacking. Two main areas that we felt could have been better dealt with in final legislation--first, the selection of the FDA as the regulatory agency. It is well known that the agency has a very full plate. There is concern that deflecting energy, resource and attention off of the heavy load of food safety might not be the wisest course of action, and whether adult tobacco consumers might be unintentionally led to believe that, post-FDA regulation, tobacco products might be safe or safer than they were before the government regulated them."
The company would have preferred having another agency regulate tobacco, she said.
Payne added that the legislation's approach "relies on prevention and cessation" and doesn't contain a component of "education and encouraging adult tobacco consumers who are using a higher-risk tobacco product to consider switching to a lower-risk tobacco product if they will not quit."
She added, "We do intended to participate to the degree permitted in the rulemaking process to set up standards and deadlines that are achievable and still permit us to successfully compete for the business of adults who choose to use tobacco."
Concerning PM USA's support of the legislation, Payne said that the harder it is to communicate with and market to their consumers, the harder it is "to convince adult smokers to switch brands. As the cigarette market declines, the only way one manufacturer can grow is at the expense of another."
Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard reiterated for CSP Daily News that it "remains committed to supporting reasonable regulation of tobacco products; however, that regulation needs to be granted to an agency that can handle the new responsibility, and the regulation must reflect the significant changes made over the last decade since the legislation was first introduced. This bill would make it more--not less--difficult for the tobacco industry to develop and market reduced-harm products. In fact, it would create insurmountable barriers to the development of reduced-harm tobacco products or alternatives."
It said, "Members of Congress have a long record of criticizing the FDA for its failure to oversee the safety of the country's food, drugs and medical devices.... Thrusting a completely new industry onto the FDA for it to oversee will further burden an agency that is already struggling to meet its core mission to protect America's food and drugs."
The company concluded, "This legislation is fundamentally flawed in how it purports to regulate the tobacco industry.... [It will lead] to an industry monopoly by locking in the huge market share of our largest competitor while eliminating our ability to communicate with our adult smokers [and will escalate] black market and criminal activity."
Opposition in the House came from Republicans concerned about government intrusion in private enterprise and tobacco state lawmakers. Representative Howard Coble (R-N.C.), said people in his state believed "allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco in any capacity would lead to the FDA regulating the family farm."
Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who guided the bill to passage in the Senate, said the tobacco industry has long succeeded in excluding itself from federal regulation. "That now changes forever," he said.
Click herefor previous CSP Daily News coverage.
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