Tobacco Companies Revive Suit Against FDA
September 30 2015 - 4:00PM
Dow Jones News
The biggest U.S. tobacco companies on Wednesday resurrected a
federal lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration
challenging the agency's effort to assert authority over tobacco
product packaging.
Subsidiaries of Altria Group Inc., Reynolds American Inc. and
Imperial Tobacco PLC dropped a similar suit in June after the FDA
said it would review a policy it introduced earlier this year that
would require companies secure federal approval for tobacco
products if they made changes to packaging, such as altering
background colors or modifying a logo. But the companies found the
FDA's revised policy, released on Sept. 8, imposed similar
restrictions.
The latest suit, which was filed in Washington, D.C., argues the
FDA requirements violate First Amendment protections of commercial
free speech. The cigarette makers claim the 2009 Tobacco Control
Act, which gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco, restricts
the FDA from preapproving labels of cigarette brands such as
Marlboro, Camel and Newport. As a result, the manufacturers said,
they should be able to change the color or look of tobacco
packaging as they wish.
An FDA spokesman declined to comment on the pending
litigation.
In a filing to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the
tobacco companies say they revived the suit because the FDA "did
not materially change the requirements imposed" in its new policy
for cigarette approvals. "The Agency merely added some new
arguments to attempt to justify them," the suit says.
The suit calls on the court to rule that the FDA policy is
unlawful. The companies aren't challenging the required health
warning labels on cigarettes.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 30, 2015 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)
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