Under the Tobacco Control Act, signed by President Obama a year ago, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration obtained authority to regulate tobacco
products, with a special emphasis on preventing their use by children and
youth and reducing the impact of tobacco on public health. The Act
authorizes the FDA, among other things, to set tobacco product standards,
require product listing and registration, revise health warning labels,
create manufacturing standards, and review products intended to modify the
risk of tobacco use.

The following provisions of the Act became effective on June 22, 2010:

-- FDA rules that limit the sale, distribution, and marketing of cigarettes
and smokeless tobacco to protect the health of children and adolescents
become legally enforceable
-- Provisions that prohibit the advertising or labeling of tobacco products
with the descriptors “light,” “mild,” or “low” or similar descriptors
without an FDA order
-- Requirements that new, larger health warning labels for smokeless tobacco
products begin to rotate on labels, labeling, and advertising and begin to
be displayed on smokeless tobacco packaging

During the past year, the FDA has established the Center for Tobacco
Products; established the tobacco user fee program, which provides funding
for FDA tobacco regulation support activities; and begun to enforce the
Act’s prohibition on manufacturing, distributing or selling certain flavored
cigarettes, such as spice-, fruit-, and candy-flavored cigarettes.  For more
information, go to: http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/default.htm