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U.S. regulators have proposed banning menthol cigarettes, aimed at a flavor that accounts for about a third of total sales in the country, in an effort to eliminate tobacco-related illnesses and death.
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it would draft product rules next year that, if passed, would ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, the only aromatic additive still allowed. He also proposed banning any kind of aromas in cigars.
Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s tobacco center, said the new flavor rules “would reduce the initiation and use of cigarettes and cigars.” . . to help save lives and improve the public health of our country while we face the main cause of preventable diseases and deaths ”.
Menthol cigarettes have been marketed for decades in black communities in the United States: approximately 85% of black smokers buy menthol, compared to 30% of white smokers, according to the FDA.
“Despite the tremendous progress we have made in getting people to quit smoking in the last 55 years, not everyone has experienced this progress equally,” Zeller added.
The announcement is just the first step in a regulatory process that is expected to take years, and tobacco groups are likely to fight it. It is not the first country to follow this route: menthol cigarettes were banned in the EU and the UK last May.
Altria, a maker of Marlboro cigarettes, said that while she shared the goal of making the transition from smokers to less harmful alternatives, “the ban doesn’t work.” The U.S.-based group said it would “continue to participate in this multi-year process.”
British American Tobacco discussed the scientific accuracy of the studies on which the FDA based its decision, arguing that it would participate in the “standard-setting process by presenting solid science-based evidence.”
The UK-based group, which is behind the popular menthol brand Newport, has previously said that 91% of menthol smokers switched to non-menthol cigarettes after their ban in the EU, while the other 9% switched to menthol-flavored vaporization. devices.
The US branch of Imperial, maker of the Kool menthol cigarette brand, said in a statement that the “decision-making process will reveal that there is no clear scientific evidence to support the federal ban on menthol and flavor.” He promised to “make sure that the voices of our adult consumers and wholesale and retail partners are represented.”
Shares of BAT fell more than 2% on Thursday afternoon, with a 1% drop in Altria and Imperial. Tobacco stocks have been under pressure for a few weeks amid speculation that the FDA was proposing a ban.
Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett said he was “quite relaxed” at the FDA’s proposal. “Today ‘s update is not yet the proposed rules, but the commitment to publish proposed rules [and it] years will pass before a final rule “, he added.
The FDA’s action came in response to a lawsuit filed by the African-American Leadership Council for Tobacco Control and the Smoking and Health Action, which sued the agency for failing to respond to a citizen request from the U.S. 2013 urging her to ban menthol cigarettes.
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