Cigarette Tar & Nicotine Numbers

In March 1966, the FTC announced that it would permit statements of tar and nicotine yields based on the results of a test method called the Cambridge Filter Method. Three years later, the FTC proposed a trade regulation rule requiring the disclosure of tar and nicotine yields in cigarette advertisements. PM USA, along with other cigarette manufacturers, responded by agreeing to disclose average tar and nicotine yields as measured by the Cambridge Filter Method in cigarette advertising - and continued to do so for nearly 40 years.

In 2008, the FTC rescinded its 1966 guidance. In support of its decision, the FTC stated that, "there is now a consensus among the public health and scientific communities that the Cambridge Filter Method is sufficiently flawed that statements of tar and nicotine yields as measured by that method are not likely to help consumers make informed decisions." Read the FTC's Rescission of Guidance.

As a result of the FTC's rescission of guidance, PM USA has removed tar and nicotine yields, as measured by the Cambridge Filter Method, from this website and its advertising and other consumer communications. In addition, public health authorities have concluded that machine test methods are not an accurate way of determining the amount of tar or nicotine a smoker may inhale. Read the U.S. National Cancer Institute's Monograph 13.