|
Senate deal offers tobacco regulation buyout of growers Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/9168599.htmhttp://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/9168599.htm
Posted on Fri, Jul. 16, 2004
Senate deal offers tobacco regulation, buyout of growers
By Carl Hulse
New York Times
WASHINGTON - After years of resistance by lawmakers from tobacco states and the cigarette industry, the Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved new federal regulation of tobacco products and advertising as part of a deal to buy out the nation's tobacco growers and end price supports that date from the Depression.
Until now, lawmakers from the Tobacco Belt have opposed allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. But they signed off on the new oversight in exchange for a $12 billion, 10-year program to aid tobacco growers struggling for survival in light of lower prices resulting from less smoking and increased imports.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a chief author of the measure adopted on a 78-15 vote, called it a ``marriage of convenience.''
``I think FDA regulation is a bad idea,'' said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. ``But my growers are in dire straits and they need help.''
The tobacco proposals were added to a tax bill intended to help U.S. corporations escape new European tariffs. The measure was sent to negotiations with the House, which has adopted its own $9.6 billion tobacco buyout without any new federal regulation of tobacco products. House members said they would resist the FDA authority, but some privately acknowledged that it might be the price of grower relief.
Under the legislation, the FDA would gain the authority for the first time to regulate the sale, distribution and advertising of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. It would have the power to require manufacturers to better disclose the contents and consequences of their products in new, stronger warning labels on packages. Cigarette companies would not be able to label their brands as reduced-risk ``lite'' or ``ultra-lite'' products unless certified by the FDA. Magazine ads could be printed only in black and white. The authors said the agency would not, however, have the ability to ban cigarettes without congressional approval.
Agreement overdue
Some senators, praising the agreement as long overdue, said it would help cut smoking among teenagers by taking some of the glitz out of tobacco ads while giving smokers more information about what is contained in tobacco products.
``A lot of lives will be saved by this bill,'' said Sen. Michael DeWine, R-Ohio, a chief sponsor along with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. ``This is the right thing to do. The time for this bill is now.''
Critics said the bargain struck to get the legislation through the Senate was a bad one, funneling billions of dollars to some who own the rights to grow tobacco but are no longer engaged in farming it, while adding new federal regulatory powers in legislation that had received little scrutiny.
``That is ludicrous,'' said Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla. ``What a waste of money.''
The federal program was created in the 1930s to control the quantity of tobacco grown and guarantee a minimum price. Under it, producers were given an allotment, known as a quota, that they could grow, and received a payment based on that. But as demand for tobacco has decreased, the value of the quotas has declined, prompting some producers to clamor that the federal government purchase the quotas from them.
The authors of the tobacco deal warned that it could still fall apart, but said this was the farthest such a proposal had ever gone.
``A change is coming,'' said McConnell, who said the legislation marked a turning point for a crop that has been intertwined with America's history. The tobacco buyout was thrust into the presidential campaign recently when President Bush said he backed the current system. That led Republican members of Congress to step up their pursuit of the aid to growers across the Southeast to offset political damage from the White House stance among growers eager for the bailout.
Lawmakers said they were confident they could win White House endorsement of any final tobacco plan negotiated between the House and Senate. Sen. John Edwards, the North Carolinian running alongside Sen. John Kerry on the Democratic presidential ticket, welcomed the Senate action and used the vote to remind growers of the president's earlier statement.
``I hope President Bush, who recently said he thought the system was just fine, will see the light and help us pass this legislation,'' Edwards said.
The FDA sought to assert regulatory jurisdiction over tobacco on its own in the 1990s, but was rebuffed by the Supreme Court. The Senate rejected FDA control in 1998, and public-health advocates have been trying to win the regulatory authority ever since.
Complex negotiations
The legislation was the product of careful negotiations between lawmakers representing the tobacco-producing states, Senate advocates of the new federal regulatory authority, growers and representatives of Altria Group Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest tobacco company.
``As with all legislative compromises, this legislation reflects a lot of difficult choices by everyone involved,'' said Mark Berlind, legislative counsel for Altria, who said that tinkering with the bill in conference could scuttle the deal.
His company's chief competitors have opposed the tobacco plan, saying the advertising rules would give Philip Morris a significant marketing advantage. Tommy Payne, an official at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said the measure ``fails to make U.S. tobacco farmers more competitive and would be financially disastrous for tobacco manufacturers, their employees, their business partners and adult smokers, many of whom are lower- and middle-income wage earners.''
Under the Senate buyout portion of the plan, at least 400,000 owners of tobacco quotas would receive payments based on poundage. The Senate would generate the money through an assessment on manufacturers and importers; the House approach would use a portion of federal cigarette taxes.
|
|
