Panel Recommends Tobacco Regulation

Friday, January 26th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” A presidential commission says the Food and Drug Administration should be given the authority to regulate tobacco for health reasons â€” and the government should compensate farmers who agree to stop growing the crop.

President Clinton named tobacco farmers, anti-smoking advocates and economic development experts to the panel in September with a goal of giving tobacco farmers an economic boost while protecting the public from smoking hazards.

In a preliminary report, unanimously endorsed, the 10-person commission said Friday the FDA should regulate the manufacture, sale, distribution and labeling of tobacco products to protect public health.

Andrew Shepherd, a commission member and Virginia tobacco grower, said farmers who once wore baseball caps saying ``Keep the FDA off the farm'' now see the advantages of regulation.

``As a consumer, I certainly wouldn't mind a lot more information on that pack â€” where it's from, how it's manufactured and what else is in there,'' Shepherd said.

Philip Morris Inc., which has fought FDA regulation in the past, now says it would accept some oversight.

``Having a set of defined rules will help bring greater stability and predictability to our business,'' company spokesman Brendan McCormick said.

Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, a tobacco foe, doubted the sincerity of Phillip Morris' endorsement: ``I think they're looking for the stamp of social acceptability.''

The report was forwarded to President Bush. His spokesman, Ari Fleischer, declined to comment, saying it had not yet been reviewed.

At a campaign stop in Kentucky last year, Bush said Congress should give the FDA ``the authority necessary to discourage teen-age smoking.''

Under Kessler, the FDA in 1996 reversed a decades-old policy by asserting authority over tobacco products and issuing rules to crack down on cigarette sales to minors. But the Supreme Court ruled in March that the FDA had exceeded its authority.

Legislation that would have given FDA regulatory oversight of tobacco failed in Congress last year.

``I think this report from this White House commission is going to give us a good shot in the arm to get this thing moving,'' said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., introduced a bill earlier this week that would give FDA authority to try to curb youth smoking, but health groups say it's too limited.

``It would make it almost impossible for the agency to restrict advertising of implied health claims or that mislead adults,'' said Matthew Myers, co-chair of the commission and president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Frist said he would compromise but added, ``Anything we put forward has got to be protective of the First Amendment protection of free speech.''

The commission also sought to address economic concerns of tobacco farmers, whose numbers have dropped from 188,650 in 1978 to 89,700.

Increasing imports of cheaper foreign tobacco and declining cigarette sales have led to steep cuts in the amount of tobacco U.S. farmers can grow under the federal price-support program.

The report says farmers should receive help shifting to other crops and should be paid for giving up their quotas, or allotments, that dictate how much leaf they can grow annually. Myers said a quota buyout could be a ``multibillion-dollar aid package.''

The report said money to fund the buyout could come from cigarette taxes or the 1998 national tobacco settlement between states and cigarette companies.

Harkin signaled there would be congressional support.

``Next year the farm bill is up, and we'll take another look at what we might be doing to encourage smaller farmers in the South to get out of growing tobacco and grow something else,'' he said.

A final report due in May will have more detailed recommendations, Myers said.

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On the Net:

Tobacco Commission: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/tobcom/