Below are our tobacco companies' positions on a few of the topics being reviewed by the FDA.
Menthol Cigarettes
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA) directed the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) to provide a report and recommendation to the FDA on the impact of menthol cigarettes on the public health by March 23, 2011. The FDA will review TPSAC’s recommendation and determine what actions, if any, to propose.
The FDA shall consider the report and recommendations of the TPSAC, as well as other scientific evidence concerning menthol cigarettes and determine what actions, if any, are warranted. There is no required deadline or timeline for FDA to act on the recommendations provided in the report.
Any actions by FDA that lead to sale and distribution restrictions or establishment of product standards require formal rule making that includes public notice and comment. Therefore, receipt of the report and recommendations by FDA will not have an immediate effect on the availability of menthol cigarettes.
Our Position:
Menthol is a well-established flavor in cigarettes that has been used for decades. Today, menthol cigarettes represent about one-third of all the cigarettes sold in the U.S.
Philip Morris USA (PM USA) believes that the collective science- and evidence-based information does not support banning menthol cigarettes or additional restrictions that would deprive adult smokers of menthol cigarettes.
The FDA should consider the possible unintended consequences of any potential regulatory actions as part of its review of the use of menthol in cigarettes. Removing menthol cigarettes from the market could trigger a series of unintended consequences that would be detrimental to FDA’s public health objectives and to society more generally. These unintended consequences would likely include:
- expanding the illicit cigarette market;
- increasing the self-mentholation of cigarettes;
- undermining efforts to prohibit access to cigarettes by minors;
- growing organized crime;
- declining tax revenues and payments under the tobacco settlement agreements; and
- significant job losses along the legitimate cigarette value chain, from farms to convenience stores.
Click here to read our submissions to the FDA on the use of menthol in cigarettes.
Dissolvable Tobacco Products
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act directed the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) to provide information and issue a recommendation on the nature and impact of the use of dissolvable tobacco products on public health not later than March 2012.
Our Position:
Philip Morris USA (PM USA) and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC) believe the FDA should treat dissolvable tobacco products that are smokeless tobacco products, in the same manner as other smokeless tobacco products. Many adult smokers have expressed an interest in smokeless tobacco product alternatives to cigarettes. Products that may be more acceptable to current adult cigarette smokers as an alternative to cigarette smoking could include dissolvable tobacco products. Like all tobacco products, dissolvable smokeless tobacco products should be marketed responsibly to adult tobacco consumers while limiting exposure to unintended audiences.
Click here to read our comments on dissolvable tobacco products.
