At press time, the U.S. Senate was poised to approve legislation introduced by Senator Kennedy (D-MA) to provide for broad federal regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of tobacco products.  The vote in the Senate – which is expected to pass the measure - follows approval of a similar measure introduced by Rep. Waxman (D-CA) in the House.  

While opponents of these bills – AWMA included – worked hard to defeat the initiative in both houses, the fact remains that we were sorely outnumbered with the change in the political landscape after the 2008 elections.  A strong effort by Senator Burr (R-NC) to mount a filibuster against the Kennedy bill was ultimately defeated by a cloture vote that occurred earlier this week breaking the filibuster.  Senator Burr’s alternative measure, that AWMA had been supporting as a more reasonable approach to tobacco regulation, was defeated by a vote of 36 to 60 on Tuesday evening.  Sen. Kennedy’s bill has been the subject of lengthy floor consideration in the Senate, and upon approval will have to be considered by the full House.  

Both the Waxman and Kennedy bills would place regulatory authority over virtually every aspect of tobacco manufacture, advertising, sales and distribution under the purview of the FDA.  The FDA – already beleaguered by food safety and drug safety issues – would be tasked with creating warning labels on tobacco products and setting forth new regulations on access, sales and distribution among other things.  And, the costs associated with the FDA’s new authority would be passed along to the manufacturers – estimates put the costs somewhere around $7 billion over the coming years.  

AWMA appreciates the support and efforts made by our members on this issue via our grassroots initiative – both through member participation in the “AWMA Day on the Hill” lobbying effort and through our website sending pre-written letters to legislators.  Unfortunately, the alternative measures did not have the support needed to win approval and it seems likely that the Kennedy bill – or some version of that measure – will be the vehicle to move forward in Congress.

AWMA will continue to follow this issue closely and report to members as new developments arise.