WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation’s leading cigarette maker told lawmakers that it now supports Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco, which would allow the company to help market two products that may be less harmful than conventional cigarettes.

Philip Morris USA is leading the push for FDA regulation, though it fought such a move in the past. At a separate hearing, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona said he would support banning tobacco products, but it would be up to Congress to take such a step.

Mike Szymanczyk, the company’s chief executive, told a House Government Reform subcommittee that FDA oversight could more effectively enable Philip Morris to market two new products it is developing that could be less harmful to smokers than existing cigarettes.

One is a cigarette that the company believes has fewer of the harmful substances found in current brands. The other is a cigarette-like device in which tobacco is electrically heated.

The FDA asserted jurisdiction over tobacco and sought to crack down on cigarette sales to minors in 1996, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the agency needed congressional approval.

Philip Morris is backing legislation by Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., that would allow the FDA to regulate tobacco. Health advocates want FDA regulation but say the bill backed by Philip Morris is too weak.

“Philip Morris wants a government stamp of approval on their next generation of so-called reduced-risk tobacco products,” said Bill Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “They want FDA to have authority that is so weak it will not change the status quo.”

Specifically, Corr said the Davis-McIntyre bill would not go far enough to shield children from cigarette ads and would not give the government enough power to order the removal of harmful substances from cigarettes.

At a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. sought the ability to claim in ads that smokeless tobacco products are safer than cigarettes.

The Connecticut-based company, which makes snuff, also has asked the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates false and deceptive advertising, to consider its request.

“Such communication will help adult smokers make more informed choices,” company vice president Richard Verheij told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee at a separate hearing.

Verheij pointed to studies in Europe that say snuff and chewing tobacco are less harmful than cigarettes.

Carmona, the surgeon general, was skeptical.

“I don’t think they have enough scientific data to justify making that statement,” Carmona said of one British study.

Congress passed a law in 1986 requiring the placement of surgeon general’s warnings on all smokeless tobacco products. That followed the release of a government report that concluded smokeless tobacco causes cancer and other diseases and is not a safer substitute for cigarette smoking.

Carmona said that recommendation should stand, but some Republican lawmakers said it seemed too rigid.

“For those smokers who can’t seem to quit smoking, switching to a less hazardous product could save lives,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.

As for FDA regulation, Verheij said his company might back such a proposal if it allowed U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. to make comparative health claims.

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On the Net:

http://www.fda.gov/

http://www.philipmorrisusa.com

http://www.ussmokeless.com/

AP-ES-06-04-03 0311EDT

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