On June 12th the U.S. House of Representatives approved the FDA tobacco bill by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 307 to 97 clearing the way for the measure to be sent to the President for signature.  President Obama has already made clear that he will sign the measure into law ending almost ten years of debate on this contentious issue.

While the fight in Congress is officially over, the battle will rage on in the regulatory arena – the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will now have sweeping power over almost every aspect of tobacco manufacture, sales, distribution and advertising.  The FDA is the agency charged with protecting human health and safety and while the law disallows the agency from actually banning tobacco there will be changes to the product such as the mandatory graphic warning labels on all tobacco products and nicotine levels could be manipulated as well.  AWMA will be monitoring the regulatory process to keep members up-to-date and to ensure that our concerns are heard as that agency works to promulgate regulations and issue guidelines stemming from enactment of this legislation.

AWMA wishes to thank all our members who worked to defeat this initiative whether through our grassroots effort on our website sending letters to legislators or through our annual “AWMA Day on the Hill” event in Washington during which we lobbied against this bill.  Your support is appreciated and in the end our call for more reasonable regulation of tobacco was not heeded simply because we were outnumbered in the new Congress and a new Administration in the White House.  However, through your efforts the legislators in Congress are made more aware of our industry and the value it brings to our nation’s economy and we are grateful for your participation in the political process.