For more information on each of these issues, see below:
Federal, state and local governments have looked to cigarette tax increases to help fill budget shortfalls. Often these excise tax increases do not meet projected revenues and create incentives for cigarette smuggling.
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Cigarette Excise Taxes.
In recent years, some in the public health community have expressed concern that tobacco products with characterizing flavors other than tobacco are packaged, advertised, and marketed in a manner that may appeal to youth.
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Characterizing Flavors.
As excise taxes increase, so does the price of tobacco products. Criminal organizations exploit these high costs by selling contraband or counterfeit tobacco products for their own financial gain. Contraband trafficking is a concern for our business, law enforcement and regulatory authorities, and the legitimate wholesale and retail trade. This illicit activity deprives governments of tax revenue and hurts law-abiding businesses.
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Contraband Trade.
Philip Morris USA actively supported legislation that would provide for tough but reasonable federal regulation of tobacco products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In June 2009, President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA), granting the FDA federal regulatory authority over tobacco products. Under this law, FDA has authority to regulate cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, “roll-your-own” tobacco and smokeless tobacco products, and may extend its authority to regulate other tobacco products such as cigars and pipe tobacco.
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Federal Regulation of Tobacco.
In 1998, the nation’s leading cigarette manufacturers signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with 46 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. The MSA was an historic agreement that imposed significant restrictions on a range of cigarette marketing activities and required the participating manufacturers to make billions of dollars of settlement payments to the states.
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Master Settlement Agreement.
Philip Morris USA believes that active participation at all levels of government is vital to our business and to our democracy. We advocate on policy issues relevant to our company by engaging responsibly with government officials, retailers, wholesalers, suppliers, consumers, employees and many other stakeholders.
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Political Action.
Kids should not smoke or use tobacco products. As manufacturers of products intended for adults, Philip Morris USA believes that we have an important role to play in preventing underage tobacco use.
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Preventing Underage Tobacco Use.
Public health officials have determined that secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes disease (including lung cancer and heart disease) in non-smoking adults. The public health community also has concluded that secondhand smoke, the combination of the smoke coming from the lit end of a cigarette plus the smoke exhaled by a smoker, can exacerbate adult asthma and cause eye, throat and nasal irritation.
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Public Place Smoking Restrictions.
Philip Morris USA is opposed to legislation that would prohibit certain classes of retail stores from selling tobacco products. Such legislation deprives businesses of the opportunity to sell a legal product, unfairly shifts business away from some retailers to others—with no public policy benefit—and imposes an unnecessary inconvenience on adult consumers.
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Sales Bans.
