WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced yesterday that it is seeking public input on the implementation of its historic new authority overseeing tobacco products in the United States.
In a Federal Register notice, the agency invites the public to provide information and share views on a wide range of topics, from product content to advertising and marketing. All public comments will be posted online.
“We’re interested in receiving input from across the country as the FDA begins to implement this important new authority intended to reduce the enormous toll of suffering and death caused by tobacco products in the United States,” said Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of Food and Drugs. “We look forward to the public’s response.”
Comments on the FDA’s regulation of tobacco products may be submitted online.
NACS is engaging with the FDA to provide detailed and ongoing input to the rulemaking process to ensure that the interests of convenience retailers are well represented. Our efforts will be focused primarily on the implementation of the program itself, rather than general comments solicited by FDA in this notice. NACS members are encouraged, however, to exercise their rights and provide their comments on the matter as requested by agency.
Also this week, the Los Angeles Times ran comments from industry insiders and academics on the new tobacco regulations. For example, Blake Brown, an agricultural economist at North Carolina State University, said, “It’s very hard to quantify the impact of regulations on the demand for tobacco. But I would think there would be two effects as a result of this legislation. One is, over time, we will see a substantial decline in cigarette consumption. I think the other potential impact is that these regulations call for modified-risk tobacco products.”
Scott Ramminger, president of the American Wholesale Marketers Association, is not supportive of the bill. “We don’t really think it’s appropriate for FDA to be regulating tobacco. We don’t think having more regulations is going to accomplish anything except cost the taxpayers a lot more money,” he said.
Finally, Jeffrey Wigand, a former Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. executive, now assists government agencies in industry investigations. “Regulation by the FDA is a great step forward,” he said. “It is not by all means perfect — it does have some loopholes. One in particular that I’ve been vocal about is the exemption of menthol at the urging of Philip Morris.”