The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, (, ) is a federal statute in the United States that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 22, 2009. The Act gives the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate the tobacco industry. A signature element of the law imposes new warnings and labels on tobacco packaging and their advertisements, with the goal of discouraging minors and young adults from smoking. The Act also bans flavored cigarettes, places limits on the advertising of tobacco products to minors and requires tobacco companies to seek FDA approval for new tobacco products.
Origins and proposal
On March 21, 2000, the Supreme Court in FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., in a 5–4 decision, held that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, particularly when considering "Congress’ subsequent tobacco-specific legislation," that Congress had not given the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products as customarily marketed. Thus the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was introduced to respond to the decision, which had held that the Clinton administration's FDA had "overreached" its congressionally delegated authority, thus giving the FDA the authority the Court determined it had lacked.
Legislative history
The bill passed the United States House of Representatives on April 2, 2009, by a vote of 298 to 112. The House bill had 178 cosponsors and the companion legislation in the Senate, had 57 cosponsors. On May 20, 2009, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions ordered the Senate bill to be reported favorably with amendments on a 15-8 vote.
The Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill reported on May 25, 2009, that Senate Majority Leader Reid planned to move on the bill during the month of June 2009. Senators Burr and Hagan of North Carolina were proposing alternative legislation.
On June 2, the Senate voted 84-11 to proceed to consideration of the House bill. On June 8, the Senate voted 61-30 on cloture on amendments to the Senate bill. The "Senate bill requires that cigarette health warning labels be large enough to make up 50 percent of the front and rear panels of the package and that the word “warning” appear in capital letters." On June 11, the Senate passed H.R. 1256 by a vote of 79-17, with 3 Senators not voting. Passage of the legislation came a week later than was originally scheduled. The Senate's version of the bill was approved by the House on June 12, by a bipartisan vote of 307-97.
Media accounts stated that the opposition in the Senate was largely from tobacco farming states, particularly Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, with the only Democrat in opposition being Kay Hagan, from North Carolina. Notable exceptions were Virginia Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner who supported the measure, despite the state's connection to the tobacco industry.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law on June 22, 2009, by President Barack Obama.
Provisions
Creates the Center for Tobacco Products, a tobacco control center within the FDA and gives the FDA authority to regulate the content, marketing and sale of tobacco products. Requires tobacco companies and importers to reveal all product ingredients and seek FDA approval for any new tobacco products (see premarket tobacco application). Allows the FDA to change tobacco product content. The ban on flavoring applies to any product meeting the definition of a "cigarette" according to section 3(1) of the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act. This includes any tobacco that comes rolled in paper or a non-tobacco substance, and added to this definition in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act is any tobacco with the purpose to be rolled such as rolling tobacco. Calls for new rules to prevent sales except through direct, face-to-face exchanges between a retailer and a consumer. Limits advertising that could attract young smokers. Requires cigarette warning labels to cover 50 percent of the front and rear of each pack, with the word warning in capital letters. Requires FDA approval for the use of expressions such as "light, "mild" or "low" that give the impression that a particular tobacco product poses less of a health risk (see modified risk tobacco product). The bill makes no provisions that ban the import of the banned items for personal consumption, only for "sale or distribution." (Division A Title II Section 201)