Lorillard Tobacco opposes US FDA bill to regulate tobacco..

April 7, 2008 - The Lorillard Tobacco, the third largest manufacturer of cigarettes in the United States, including the Newport brand, the best selling menthol cigarette in the country, Company today issued the following statement with regard to the passage of a bill H.R. 1108, the ‘Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act’ by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that would force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the tobacco industry. (Newport cigarettes, responsible for 80% Lorillard sales, are very popular among the African-American community."The Lorillard Tobacco Company opposes H.R. 1108 -- legislation that would force the FDA to regulate tobacco.

While Lorillard fully supports reasonable federal regulation of the tobacco industry, the FDA already is overworked by Congress and is the wrong agency for the job. The challenges facing FDA are well documented. Adding a new industry for the FDA to oversee when it is struggling to fulfill its core mission is misguided. It will only compromise the health and safety of millions of Americans. "This legislation also has fundamental problems.

It would codify a 12-year-old FDA regulation that is blatantly unconstitutional, providing competitive advantage to our larger rivals. In addition, it makes the development and marketing of safer tobacco products impossible while providing no guidance to the FDA as to how to carry out this new regulation. "It is important to note that FDA Commissioner "Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach has made it abundantly clear that he does not believe FDA should be the agency to regulate tobacco. Tobacco is not a drug or device that should be regulated by the FDA. Forcing the FDA to depart from its core mission to regulate a product that is inherently dangerous is simply wrong." ( Statement from Lorillard Tobacco on FDA-Tobacco Regulation Legislation, 4/3/2008) More Lorrillard related news briefs:More on FDA regulation bill.., Lorillard spinning off Lorillard as early as mid-2008.. and Test Marketing of Lorillard's Triumph SNUS in Columbus OH... (TobaccoWatch.org)