Marketing Restrictions

These requirements became even more extensive in 2009, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began regulating cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, “roll your own tobacco” and smokeless tobacco products. On May 10, 2016, the FDA published a Final Rule to extend the Agency’s authority to regulate other tobacco products, including cigars, e-vapor products and other products containing tobacco-derived nicotine. The FDA has the authority to regulate virtually all aspects of the sale, distribution and marketing of these tobacco products.

Federal Regulation

In 2009, Congress empowered the FDA to regulate all tobacco products. Altria's tobacco companies supported this landmark legislation. Today, Altria and its tobacco companies communicate with the agency as it exercises this authority. They also supported the FDA's Final Rule to extend its authority to regulate other tobacco products, including cigars, e-vapor products, and other products containing tobacco-derived nicotine, in May 2016.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act includes a number of restrictions on cigarette and smokeless tobacco sales, marketing and advertising, including:

• imposing a national minimum age of 18 to purchase;
• prohibiting the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in vending machines, self-service displays or other impersonal modes of sales, except in very limited situations;
• prohibiting sampling of cigarettes;
• restricting sampling of smokeless tobacco;
• prohibiting cigarette and smokeless tobacco brand name sponsorships; and
• prohibiting the sale or distribution of items, such as hats and t-shirts, with cigarette and smokeless tobacco brands or logos.

The significant rise in youth use of e-vapor threatens to undermine the hard-fought gains made in preventing underage use of conventional tobacco products. We support the FDA's commitment to leverage its authority and resources to take additional steps to address these new, emerging issues associated with underage use, while continuing the progress that's been made on traditional products.

PM USA is committed to being part of the solution. In addition to our long-standing efforts, we supported legislation to raise the minimum age for all tobacco products to 21. We believe this is the most effective step available to reverse rising underage e-vapor rates and protecting the potential for reduced harm products for adults. In December 2019, federal legislation raised the legal age of purchase for all tobacco products to 21.

New products that have already received FDA authorization are subject to FDA's advanced review of marketing materials and post-market surveillance requirements. These regulatory requirements reinforce our standards for responsible marketing and serve as affirmation of our companies’ adherence to our commitments. However, FDA has not issued regulations to broadly restrict manufacturer marketing practices of newer tobacco products, like heated tobacco. In absence of these regulations, we believe all manufacturers have a responsibility to limit reach to unintended audiences, including non-users and people under the legal age to purchase tobacco products. Doing so will help ensure that these innovative tobacco products do not cause unintended societal harm and preserve the viability of these products as potential pathways for adult tobacco consumers interested in transitioning away from cigarettes.