House Committee Votes To Give FDA Power To Oversee Tobacco
March 04 2009 - 6:12PM
Dow Jones News
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday
overwhelmingly approved a bill that gives the Food and Drug
Administration powers to regulate the tobacco industry.
The controversial bill gives the FDA the authority to monitor
smoking products and ban flavored cigarettes - such as
candy-flavored kinds - with an exception for menthol-flavored
cigarettes. It also bars companies from claiming their tobacco
products are low in tar or light.
The bill could have drastic effects for cigarette makers such as
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), maker of the Camel brand of
cigarettes, and is aimed at preventing youth from picking up
smoking.
"This legislation will give FDA the authority to prevent the
dangerous and all-too prevalent marketing and sales of tobacco to
kids," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D.-Calif., chairman of the Energy
and Commerce Committee. Waxman introduced the bill last year, where
it was passed by the full House but got held up in the Senate.
Thirty-nine members of the committee voted to approve the bill,
and 13 voted against it.
Several Republican members of the Energy and Commerce Committee
voted against the bill, saying the bill would give people the
perception that FDA approves the use of tobacco products. Critics
also said the FDA's handling of recent drug scandals and food
outbreaks involving the bacteria salmonella show the agency doesn't
have the resources and can't handle the responsibility of
overseeing another area of the public's health.
"The FDA is the wrong agency at the wrong time to be given this
responsibility," said Joe Barton, R.-Texas, ranking member of the
committee.
Democratic leaders acknowledged the FDA's lack of resources and
noted that the tobacco industry would be funding the regulation via
user fees, in which the government charges the industry to review
applications for tobacco products. Tobacco companies would have to
pay those fees quarterly based on their market share.
Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., gave a spirited presentation in his
quest to introduce an amendment that would create a separate
program within the Department of Health and Human Services to
regulate tobacco rather than the have the FDA oversee the industry.
The amendment would have put few limits on tobacco advertising, a
provision Buyer said would make it easier to implement. He said he
fears Waxman's tobacco bill, which puts extensive limits on what
tobacco makers can say in ads, will end up in courts for years.
Buyer characterized his approach as "pragmatic" and Waxman's as
an "abstinence-only approach." Waxman disagreed, saying his bill
acknowledges people will continue to use tobacco products and that
it doesn't ban all tobacco products. Buyer's amendment was rejected
by the committee.
Buyer introduced a handful of other amendments, all of which
were either rejected or withdrawn.
Health advocacy groups have widely supported the bill, and
although industry has for years opposed any such regulation, Philip
Morris USA, maker of Marlboro cigarettes and unit of Altria Group
Inc. (MO), has said it supports it. Critics argue, however, that
the company is supporting the bill because it would make it harder
for newer tobacco companies to bring products to market that
compete with Philip Morris' already widely used tobacco
products.
Republican critics of the bill noted that when the bill was in
play last year, former FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach said
giving the agency authority over tobacco would cause problems for
oversight in other areas. Former Secretary of HHS, Michael Leavitt,
said the bill would divert FDA resources and personnel to an area
in which it has no experience.
The bill will likely come to a vote by the full House sometime
this year. It's unclear what will happen when it reaches the
Senate, where Sen. Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., last year repeatedly
threatened to vote against the bill.
-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202.862.9207;
jared.favole@dowjones.com