NEW YORK - Executives from cigarette maker Lorillard will keep a close eye on Capitol Hill next week as lawmakers consider measures that could threaten sales of its lucrative menthol-flavored brand, Newport.

The House of Representatives could vote before month's end on a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate tobacco. If signed into law, the government would gain new power to restrict ingredients used in cigarettes and crack down on advertising directed at children. Currently, additives found in cigarettes, chew and other tobacco products are not regulated by the government.

Despite wide support for the effort in Congress, debate over whether and how to restrict use of menthol flavoring is threatening to derail the bill. No company has more at stake in the outcome than Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard, which relies on menthol cigarettes for 90 percent of its sales.

The current bill exempts menthol from an immediate ban applied to other tobacco-masking flavors used in cigarettes, such as orange, strawberry and cherry. Instead the bill gives regulators power to ban or limit menthol at a later date, if they can show scientific evidence it threatens public health.

The wording of the menthol provision is a point of contention among bill supporters in the House. While some members of the Congressional Black Caucus have pushed for an outright ban on menthol, others say such strong language would threaten the bill's chances of becoming law.

"This has been something long sought after and now that we finally have it within our grasp we shouldn't undermine it," said Virgin Islands Delegate Donna Christensen. Pursuing an outright ban would "threaten a very fragile agreement," she added.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, have already vowed to block the bill if it reaches the Senate.

Menthol cigarettes make up more than a quarter of the total U.S. market. About 70 percent of black smokers buy menthol cigarettes, compared with about 30 percent of white smokers.

Supporters of a menthol ban say the flavoring makes smoking more tolerable to youngsters and functions as a starter product. However, industry advocates dispute the claim.

Lorillard said its products should not be compared to fruit-flavored cigarettes, a recent development which lawmakers accuse of blatantly encouraging children to smoke.

"Menthol has been used in cigarettes for 82 years," said company spokesman Michael Robinson. "It has never been used to attract younger smokers."

The company's best-selling Newport brand accounts for one-third of the U.S. market for menthol cigarettes. The other leading menthol brands are Kool and Salem cigarettes, both made by Winston-Salem-based Reynolds American Inc. The two brands combined still account for less of the market than Newport.

A report from Harvard University researchers last week pointed to industry records that showed companies adjusted menthol levels to target different age groups. For instance, Philip Morris used low-menthol cigarettes to introduce their brand to younger smokers, but raised menthol levels in brands aimed at older smokers.

Lorillard said it does not alter menthol levels to hook smokers, and has not adjusted Newport's formulation since 2000.

The company spent more than $750,000 in the first quarter lobbying the federal government on cigarette regulation, including the menthol debate, according to government filings.

Competitor Philip Morris, which markets Marlboro cigarettes, actually favors the bill and is credited with helping build support for tobacco regulation in Congress. The company sells menthol cigarettes under the brand Marlboro Milds, but they are a small segment of its revenue.

Analysts speculate the Richmond, Va.-based company supports the effort because it is better positioned than rivals to operate in a more-regulated environment. Because of its size, the company could dedicate more resources to dealing with regulators than its smaller competitors.

Altria Group Inc., Philip Morris' parent company, already controls more than 40 percent of the U.S. cigarette market.

But despite support for the bill in both chambers of Congress, complicating issues appear to be stalling its momentum.

The Bush administration said Tuesday it opposes giving FDA oversight of tobacco because it would suggest cigarettes are somehow safe. Opposition from the White House could doom the bill's chances of passing this year, since its supporters do not appear to have the Senate votes needed to overturn a presidential veto.

Additionally, Congress is approaching its summer recess and still has more pressing legislation to pass, including a housing bill aimed at propping up the economy.

But the threat of tobacco regulation is not necessarily going away, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Marc Greenberg.

With the potential for Democrats to win the White House and increase their majority in Congress this November, Greenberg writes that party leaders seem "inclined to wait on major issues until it has a stronger hand to play."

He said the prospect of tobacco regulation being delayed until 2009 would benefit Lorillard shares in the near term.

 BRUSSELS-- The European Commission proposed Wednesday to gradually increase minimum taxation levels in the European Union (EU) on cigarettes, aiming to discourage smoking and fight smuggling.

    Under the plan, the excise duties levied on cigarettes must account for at least 63 of the price on average in 2004 from 57 percent currently, and they must be at least 90 euros (140 U.S. dollars) per 1000 cigarettes, compared to 64 euros (100 U.S. dollars) at present.

    "Today's proposal supports the EU policy to reduce tobacco consumption and narrow the differences in price levels of tobacco products within the EU," said Laszlo Kovacs, EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union.

    According to the World Bank, price increases in tobacco products are the most effective single intervention in preventing smoking.

    The commission estimated that the increase of tax would contribute to a 10 percent decrease in tobacco consumption in most member states within the next five years.

    Despite EU requirement for minimum tax on cigarettes, considerable differences remained in taxation levels between the lowest and the highest taxing member states, which could be up to almost 600 percent of the excise burden expressed in euros, according to the commission.

    The great divergence in taxation levels encouraged intra-EU tobacco smuggling and cross-border shopping, which undermined the revenue and the health objectives of those countries which imposed high taxes to deter smoking.

    The proposals also updated the definitions of different types of tobacco products so as to remove loopholes which allow certain cigarettes or fine cut tobacco to be presented as cigars, cigarillos or pipe tobacco and therefore benefiting from a lower tax rate. Enditem

When Columbus discovered America members of his expedition became the first Europeans to witness the – to them – curious habit of smoking tobacco.
1492- Columbus Discovers Tobacco. In his journal, Columbus mentions tobacco for the first time. Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres first observe the native smoking ritual and try it themselves. Jerez becomes the first smoker of western decent.
1556-Tobacco use spreads to the old world through Spain and Portugal. The plant that grew from these seeds is christened Nicotina tabacura by Linnaeus, thereby immortalizing Jean Nicot's name. Later the addictive alkaloid is called nicotine.
1548 - The Portuguese begin to grow tobacco for export in Brazil.
1770 - The first tobacco shop is established in Lancaster.
1826 - England is importing only 26 lbs of cigars per year. By 1830, England is importing 250,000 lbs per year. 1847 - Philip Morris is open for business in England. They sell hand rolled Turkish cigarettes.
1854 - Philip Morris begins making its own cigarettes in London, on Bond Street
1881 - James E. Bonsack invents the automated cigarette-making machine. It can produce 200 cigarettes per minute, a production rate which would have previously taken 50 workers, thereby markedly reducing the cost of production. Within one year the largest cigarette manufacturer sells more than a billion cigarettes annually.
1832 - The cigarette is invented by an Egyptian artilleryman during the siege of Acre. The Egyptian's cannon crew had improved their rate of fire by rolling the gunpowder in paper tubes. For this, he and his crew were rewarded with a pound of tobacco. Their only pipe was broken, so they took to rolling the pipe tobacco in the paper tubes.
1864 - First American cigarette factory opens and produces almost 20 million cigarettes annually.
1875 - Allen & Ginter cigarette brands, Richmond Straight Cut No. 1 and Pet, begin using picture cards to stiffen the pack and protect the cigarettes. The cards, with photos of actresses, baseball players, Indian Chiefs, and boxers are enormously successful and represent the first modern promotion scheme for a manufactured product.
1901 - 3.5 billion cigarettes and 6 billion cigars are sold. Four in five American men smoke at least one cigar a day.
1902 - Tiny Philip Morris sets up a corporation in New York to sell its British brands, including Philip Morris, Blues, Cambridge, Derby, and a cigarette named after Marlborough Street, where its London factory is located. Marlboro is one of the earliest woman's cigarettes, featuring a red tip to hide lipstick marks. It does not catch on with the public.
1910 - Most popular brands: Pall Mall, Sweet Caporals, Piedmont, Helmar and Fatima.
1913 - RJ Reynolds introduces Camel, considered by historians as the first 'modern' cigarette.
1917 - During World War I cigarettes become the smoke of choice as pipes and cigars prove unmanageable at the front. Between 1910 and 1919 cigarette production increases by 633% from under 10 billion/year to nearly 70 billion/year and cigarette smoking begins to become fixed among American men. The American Red Cross and the Young Men's Christian Association, previously opposed to the propagation of cigarettes, actively supply them to the troops overseas.
1921 - RJ Reynolds spends $8 million in advertising, mostly on Camel. Inaugurates the highly successful "I'd Walk a Mile for a Camel" slogan.
1924 - Philip Morris re-introduces Marlboro with the slogan "Mild as May," targeting "decent, respectable" women. "Has smoking any more to do with a woman's morals than has the color of her hair?" the advertisement reads. "Marlboros now ride in so many limousines, attend so many bridge parties, and repose in so many handbags."
1927 - A sensation is created when George Washington Hill blatantly aims Lucky Strike advertising campaign at women, urging them to "reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." Smoking initiation rates among adolescent females triple between 1925-1935, and Lucky Strike captures 38% of the American market.
1936 - Brown and Williamson introduce Viceroy, the first national brand to feature a filter of cellulose acetate. Advertising increases the use of physicians to counter the claims that cigarettes are a major health problem.
1940 - Adult Americans smoke 2,558 cigarettes per capita a year, nearly twice the consumption of 1930
1945 - Smoking is now socially acceptable for women. Another generation of Americans is now habituated to tobacco as a result of free cigarettes distributed by the Red Cross and other organizations to our fighting men and women.
1952 - Kent introduces the 'Micronite' filter, which Lorillard claims "offers the greatest health protection in cigarette history." It turns out to be made of asbestos. Kent discontinues use of the Micronite filter four years later.
1954 - RJ Reynolds:- introduces:- Winston:- filter cigarettes, but promotes the taste benefit, not health. Winston dominates the US market for the next 15 years.
1954 - Marlboro advertising taken over by the Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett. "Delivers the Goods on Flavor" ran the new slogan in newspaper ads. Design of the campaign, which features 'Marlboro Men,' is credited to John Landry of Philip Morris. Prior to initiating this campaign, Marlboro had <1% of the US market.
1963 – Marlboro dispenses with tattooed sailors and athletes as the Marlboro Man and settles on the exclusive use of cowboys. For several years, Philip Morris research had shown that sales increased whenever they cowboys appeared in their campaigns.
1964 - Marlboro Country ad campaign is launched. "Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country." Marlboro sales begin growing at 10% a year.
1968 - Philip Morris introduces Virginia Slims with the slogan, "You've come a long way, baby." Five yeas later, Billy Jean King, wearing Virginia Slims colors, defeats Bobby Riggs in the televised 'Battle of the Sexes.' Virginia Slims continues to promote tennis matches to this day.
1972 - Marlboro becomes the best-selling cigarette in the world. It remains so today by a wide margin. 1999 - About 10 million Americans smoke cigars.
2002 - CDC estimates smoking health and productivity costs reach $150 billion a year, according to a new study published in this week's WMMR. CDC estimated the total cost of smoking at $3,391 a year for every smoker, and even itemized the per-pack health/productivity costs at $7.18/pack. Further, it estimated the smoking-related medical costs at $3.45 per pack, and job productivity lost because of premature death from smoking at $3.73 per pack.
Current campaign Fire-safe cigarette legislation has been passed or introduced in many states. To maintain regulatory uniformity, all states and countries are using the “model” FSC regulatory bill based on the New York FSC law. With identical fire safety regulations for cigarettes in all states and countries, cigarette manufacturers can voluntarily produce FSC worldwide. Until then, legislative campaigns mandating FSC will continue.