The FDA plans to announce the director of its new tobacco division this week, according to the agency’s commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, who personally interviewed six potential candidates for the position.

 

After President Barack Obama formally signed a bill giving the FDA the power to regulate tobacco in June, the FDA began its search for a czar to oversee the agency’s new tobacco division.

 

According to an advertisement for the position, the FDA was seeking a politically savvy leader, familiar with the inner-workings of Congress and with scientific expertise and experience in toxicology, epidemiology and public health.

 

The FDA will charge tobacco companies an annual fee to pay for the new regulation. The legislation also bans candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes, and bans colored advertisements, restricting companies to black and white marketing materials.

 

Hamburg noted the FDA’s tobacco division will likely include hundreds of FDA employees to help the agency implement the new authority. In addition, the FDA is reorganizing the commissioner’s office to help the agency communicate issues to the public and better oversee industry.

 

Source: Dow Jones Newswire