Citizen Petition to FDA Seeking Track and Trace System for Tobacco Products

In 2009, Congress enacted the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which granted the Food and Drug Administration broad authority over the constituents, manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sale of tobacco products. In a petition filed jointly with the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Legacy, and the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, Public Citizen requested that the FDA issue a rule to implement a track and trace system to monitor manufacturing and the flow of tobacco products from production through distribution to retail outlets. By providing an accountability mechanism, a track and trace system would facilitate achievement of the purposes of the Tobacco Control Act, enhance timely compliance with the Tobacco Control Act, promote public health objectives, and reduce the sale of illicit tobacco products and the evasion of tobacco taxes.