After working with House Energy and Commerce Committee members to include provisions addressing retailer concerns, NACS has withdrawn its opposition to H.R. 1108, a bill that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco manufacturing and retailing.
For years NACS had opposed H.R. 1108 and similar legislation because of concerns about how the bill was proposing to regulate tobacco sales.
"The current version of the legislation addresses all the concerns we had raised 18 months ago," said Lyle Beckwith, NACS senior vice president of government relations. "We will not oppose this House bill as presently crafted.”
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to mark-up H.R. 1108, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, on April 2. NACS said it will continue to oppose the language of S. 625, the Senate version, unless the same changes are made.
Last week, Reynolds American lambasted the FDA for focusing on tobacco laws while failing to safely regulate the nation’s food, prescription drugs and medical device supplies.
Reynolds questioned the government’s plans to expand the FDA’s responsibilities on tobacco products, as well as the wisdom of adding $7.6 billion in new taxes and fees to support Washington’s “huge new bureaucracy.”