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Burr, Hagan team up on tobacco bill
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Published: March 11, 2009
Calling the U.S. Food and Drug Administration "ill-equipped and unsuited" to deal with the tobacco industry, North Carolin's two U.S. senators have authored "a reasonable, bipartisan alternative" to the regulations being proposed by the FDA.
Republican senior Sen. Richard Burr joined forces with freshman Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan on what they are calling the Federal Tobacco Act of 2009, which was introduced on Tuesday.
In a press release issued by the offices of both senators, the recent peanut recall was pointed out as an example of the FDA being "overburdened and ill-equipped to handle a large, new mandate" such as a comprehensive tobacco plan.
North Carolina employs 65,000 people in tobacco industry: including large tobacco companies, distributors, and tobacco farmers who mostly located in the eastern part of the state but can be found throughout it.
"I am pleased to introduce this important piece of legislation, along with Senator Hagan, which will provide appropriate federal regulation of tobacco products," Burr said in the release.
Hagan said the FDA "lacks the capacity or the expertise to take on a large, complicated new industry." She said the plan by her and fellow Tar Heel legislator does more than "merely oppose" the FDA's plan.
"Senator Burr and I have offered an alternative proposal that protects the tobacco industry while also imposing stringent new restrictions that will prevent children from smoking," Hagan said. "I will not stand idly by while the FDA is put in charge of such a critical industry to North Carolina."
Hagan added that she will work to gain support of the comprehensive bill, which would establish a federal agency – separate from the FDA – dedicated to regulating the manufacture, marketing and use of tobacco products.
According to the joint press release, the senators believe that the FDA's mission is "to ensure the safety of the food, drugs, and medical devices, not products that everyone knows to be unsafe."
If tobacco regulation must take place, the release reads in part "this proposal is a more viable and reasonable alternative."
Under the senator's plan, a new agency – the Federal Tobacco Regulatory Agency – would be established to enforce new and existing federal statutes and regulations governing tobacco products. All tobacco manufacturers doing businesses domestically would be required to register with the Federal Tobacco Regulatory Agency, and significant user fees would fund the agency.
Additionally, the proposal:
* Virtually eliminates the advertising and marketing of tobacco products and the use of terms such as "light," "mild," "ultra-light," "medium," and "low," as product descriptors.
* Bans companies from using their brand to sponsor events or conduct consumer sweepstakes or contests.
* Forbids cigarettes from being sold in packs of less than 20.
* Mandates that the backs of tobacco packages reserved for disclosure requirements, including surgeon general's warnings and a list of ingredients.
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