Washington - The US Senate on Thursday approved sweeping new
controls on tobacco products, including a ban on the labelling of
'light' cigarettes and increasing the size of health warning labels.
The bill for the first time gives a federal regulator, the US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), broad authority over tobacco
companies. It was welcomed by health advocates and even some major
tobacco companies.
The legislation, passed 79-17 by the Senate, would bar companies
from labelling cigarettes as 'light' or 'ultra-light,' though it does
not specify how they should be labelled instead. Anti-smoking
advocates argue cigarettes with less tar are no less harmful to one's
health.
Fruit or sweet-flavoured cigarettes - often criticized for
targeting children - will also be banned, while new warning labels on
cigarette packets will take up about half of the space.
'This legislation represents the strongest action Congress has
ever taken to reduce tobacco use,' said Matthew Myers, president of
the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington-based lobby group.
'The time finally has come to end the special protection the
tobacco industry has enjoyed for too long and at such great cost to
the nation's health,' he said.
The US House of Representatives approved a similar bill in April,
but the House must hold one more vote on the Senate's version before
it can reach President Barack Obama's desk for signature.
Obama said the bill 'will make history by giving the scientists
and medical experts at the FDA the power to take sensible steps that
will reduce tobacco's harmful effects and prevent tobacco companies
from marketing their products to children.'
Altria Group, the parent company of cigarette producers Philip
Morris, also welcomed the bill's passage.
'The legislation is an important step forward to achieve the goal
we share with others to provide federal regulation of tobacco
products,' Altria said in a statement.
USA
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