Why then has US
tobacco giant Altria, maker of Marlboros, given its full support to the bill? Well, because the firm has read the small print. This legislation might as well be dubbed the Altria Earnings Protection Act, says
Fortune magazine. For starters, the bill prevents the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from ever banning cigarettes. But just as importantly, the wording makes it extremely unlikely that the FDA will ever approve a new cigarette product because the entrant would have to be deemed appropriate for the protection of the public health. So the bill basically featherbeds the dominant
tobacco groups share of the market. It even mandates a crackdown on sales of counterfeit cigarettes, which have been a major thorn in the industrys side in recent years.
