Recently, AWMA reported that the House Subcommittee on Health had approved legislation – HR 1108 – that would provide the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with broad regulatory power to regulate all tobacco products.  This measure is now slated to be considered by the full Committee on Energy and Commerce sometime during the first week of April.  The Congress is in recess for the Easter holiday and will reconvene on March 31.  It is expected that the full Committee will take up HR 1108 sometime that week although no specific date has yet been scheduled.

AWMA remains opposed to this effort believing that this legislation is overly broad and is being rushed through Congress without proper deliberation and study of the impact such a bill will have upon virtually every aspect of tobacco manufacture, distribution, marketing, sales and consumer acceptability.