Senate panel approved a bill that would give FDA the power to regulate tobacco products
21 05 09 - 12:56
FDA Tobacco Regulation Approved by Senate Panel
By PATRICK YOEST and ALICIA MUNDY - The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- A bill giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate tobacco products won approval from a key U.S. Senate panel Wednesday, setting up a floor battle in the chamber.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved the bill on a 15-8 vote. According to Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), who shepherded the bill through the committee, the full Senate could take up the measure as soon as the first week of June.
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.), would give the FDA authority over tobacco, including the ability to ban certain smoking products such as candy-flavored cigarettes. The bill would let the agency restrict ads to black-and-white and stop the use of the terms "mild" and "low tar."
A similar bill passed the House last month, and President Barack Obama has said he supports FDA regulation of tobacco.
Sen. Dodd expressed confidence that supporters of the bill could overcome a 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. However, passage in the full Senate is still uncertain because of strong opposition from some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina.
Tobacco producers have a large presence in North Carolina. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat from the state, said Tuesday that 65,000 jobs would be affected by the legislation.
Many Senate Republicans objected to giving the FDA power to regulate tobacco, saying that the agency is already hard-pressed to perform its drug-safety mission.
The Kennedy bill says funding for the FDA regulation should come from several billion dollars in user fees from the industry over the next decade.
Smaller tobacco companies criticize the legislation, saying it would freeze in place the dominance of big companies by making it difficult to introduce new products.
Write to Patrick Yoest at patrick.yoest@dowjones.com and Alicia Mundy at alicia.mundy@wsj.com