Fact Sheet: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009

Today, President Obama will sign historic legislation granting authority over tobacco products to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some of the key elements of this legislation include:

• New Center for Tobacco Products: FDA will create a new Center for Tobacco Products to oversee the science-based regulation of tobacco products in the United States.

• Banning Candy-Flavored Cigarettes: By October 2009, cigarettes will be prohibited from having candy, fruit, and spice flavors as their characterizing flavors.

• Full Disclosure of Ingredients and Additives: By January 2010, tobacco manufacturers and importers will submit information to FDA in their possession about ingredients and additives in tobacco products, a description of the nicotine content and delivery, and the health consequences of tobacco products.

• Stopping Youth-Focused Marketing: By April 2010, FDA will issue the agency's 1996 regulation aimed at reducing young people's access to tobacco products and curbing the appeal of tobacco to the young. When the regulation becomes effective, a number of measures will take effect, including:

• Tobacco manufacturers may no longer sponsor sporting, athletic, and entertainment events using tobacco product brand names and logos;

• Tobacco manufacturers may no longer sell or give away clothing or other items which bear the brand name or logo of a tobacco product; and

• Tobacco manufacturers will no longer be able to distribute free samples of cigarettes, and free samples of smokeless tobacco will be allowed only in adult-only facilities.

• Prohibiting Other Marketing Measures Misleading Consumers: By July 2010, tobacco manufacturers may no longer use the terms "light," "low," and "mild" on tobacco products.
  
  
• New Warning Labels: By July 2011, warning labels for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products will be revised and strengthened. Warnings will comprise the top 50 percent of the front and rear panels of the package. FDA will issue regulations requiring graphics on labels depicting the health risks of smoking.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 also provides FDA with regulatory authority to regulate marketing and promotion of tobacco products and set performance standards for tobacco products to protect the public health.

Background on today's bill signing:

Stage Participants:

Senator Chris Dodd, D-CT

Senator Richard Durbin, D-IL

Senator Mike Enzi, R-WY

Senator Tom Harkin, D-IA

Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA

Rep. John Dingell, D-MI

Rep. Donna Christensen, D-VI

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ

Rep. Todd Platts, R-PA

Christopher Eric Wiggins, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (10 years old)

Eamon McGoldrick, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (14 years old)

Hoai-Nam Ngoc Bui, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (14 years old)

Sarah Louise Wiggins, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (9 years old)

Additional Members of Congress Expected to Attend:

Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-NM

Senator Sherrod Brown, D-OH

Senator Bob Casey, D-PA

Senator Jeff Merkley, D-OR

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI

Rep. GK Butterfield, D-NC

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-CO

Rep. Ralph Hall, R-TX

Administration Officials:

Andrea Palm, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, HHS

Bill Corr, Deputy Secretary, HHS

Catherine Lorraine, Director, Policy Development and Coordination Staff, FDA

Dora Hughes, Senior Counselor, HHS

Howard Koh, Asst. Secretary for Health, HHS

Josh Brown, Attorney-Advisor, Office of the General Counsel, HHS

Josh Sharfstein, Principal Deputy Commissioner, FDA

Lester Cash, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary, Legislation, HHS

Peggy Hamburg, Commissioner, FDA

Tom Frieden, Director, CDC

Additional Expected Attendees:

Aida McCammon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Indiana Latino Institute, Inc.

Alisa Mosley, Director of External Affairs, National Medical Association

Anne J. Ford, Vice President for Federal Government Relations, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Bishop Douglas Miles, President, Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance

Brenda Nevidjon, President, Oncology Nursing Society

Brian Hickey Director, Federal Government Relations, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

C. Edwin Webb, Associate Executive Director, American College of Clinical Pharmacy

Cliff Douglas, President, Tobacco Control Law and Policy Consulting

Clifford E. Douglas, Director, University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network

Daniel McGoldrick Vice President, Research, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Daniel Smith, President, American Cancer Society

David Kessler, Professor, University of California San Francisco

Derek Scholes, Government Relations Manager, American Heart Association

DeWitt Williams, Director, Health Ministries, North American Division, Seventh Day Adventist Church

Donna E. Shalala, President, University of Miami

Doug Ulman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lance Armstrong Foundation

Douglas Blayney, President, American Society of Clinical Oncology

Douglas Gansler, Attorney General, State of Maryland

Dr. Barrett Duke, Vice President for Public Policy, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention

Dr. Cheryl Healton, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Legacy Foundation

Dr. Gregory Connolly, Professor, Harvard School of Public Health

Dr. Judith Monroe, President, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials

Dr. Michael Caldwell, Commissioner of Health, Dutchess County Department of Health

Dr. Renee Jenkins, Immediate Past President, American Academy of Pediatrics

Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director, Islamic Society of North America

Dr. Wilson Ko, Vice Chair, National Council of API Physicians

Eric Lindblom, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Erika Sward, Director, National Advocacy, American Lung Association

Grant Woods, Former Attorney General, State of Arizona

Gregg Haifley, Associate Director of Federal Relations, American Cancer Society

Irwin Berlin, Chair, Government Relations Committee, American College of Chest Physicians

J. James Rohack, President, American Medical Association

Jack Henningfield, Vice President, Research and Health Policy, Pinney Associates

Jacqueline Marie Bolt, Vice President of Administration, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

James Winkler, Chair of Faith United Against Tobacco and General Secretary, United Methodist Board of Church & Society

Joel J. Africk, President and Chief Executive Officer, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago

Joel Spivak, Associate Director of Media Relations, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

John Seffrin, Chief Executive Officer, American Cancer Society

Joseph Marx, Senior Communications Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Katherine O'Loughlin, Executive Director, American Dental Association

Louise Myers, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Margaret Riordan, Director, Policy Research, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Mark McCellan, Former Commissioner, FDA

Matt Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Michael Moore, Former Attorney General, State of Mississippi

Mitch Zeller, Vice President for Policy and Strategic Communications, Pinney Associates

Mona Bormet, Advocacy Program Specialist, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum

Nancy Brown, Chief Executive Officer, American Heart Association

Paul G. Billings, Vice President, National Policy & Advocacy, American Lung Association

Rev. Cynthia Abrams, Program Director of Alcohol, Other Addictions, and Health Care, United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Robert M. Pestronk, Executive Director, National Association of County and City Health Officials

Steven Nolan, Chairman of the Board, American Lung Association

Timothy Gardner, President, American Heart Association

Van Velsor Wolf, National Chairman, American Cancer Society

Vince Willmore, Vice President, Communications, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Vincent DeMarco, Coordinator, Faith United Against Tobacco

William Schultz, Attorney, Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP