AWMA President & CEO Scott Ramminger will testify before the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) today as that Committee decides whether or not to recommend a ban on menthol.  Ramminger was invited to speak on March 17th at 3:00pm before the Committee and his remarks will be considered, along with other statements, as part of the TPSAC study.

Ramminger is expected to express “serious concern that a ban on menthol cigarettes would be ineffective and create a significant contraband market with ill-effects for our members and others.”  In his testimony Ramminger will also state that the Committee should be looking to proven science with solid data when making their recommendation.  Ramminger will tell the Committee that AWMA has studied cigarette sales and contraband markets for years and if menthol were banned a currently legal product would be replaced by a contraband market.

Ramminger is scheduled to speak before TPSAC today, March 17th, at approximately 3pm at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) White Oak Conference Center.  The entire meeting, including Ramminger’s remarks, will be videotaped and according to the FDA a link to the hearing will be available within a couple of weeks at the FDA Web site http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/default.htm.

A final report from FDA’s TPSAC with recommendations on menthol is scheduled to be issued next week, on March 23rd. AWMA has also sent a letter to the agency urging them not to consider any ban on menthol cigarettes.  In the letter to FDA, AWMA notes that any action to ban this product would likely result in a significant increase in the contraband market and such action would make no sense in the face of solid scientific studies showing that menthol cigarettes have no different health effects than non-menthol.