Tobacco Firms Begin Paying for FDA Regulation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to collect $23 million in fees from the tobacco industry this year to pay for regulation of the industry, as authorized by Congress and signed into law in June.

The Associated Press reported Oct. 1 that tobacco firms have begun submitting quarterly payments to the FDA that will increase to $235 million in 2010 and $712 million by 2019. The nation’s biggest cigarette company, Altria, owner of Philip Morris, is expected to pay about half of all fees assessed on the industry, analysts say.

The money will pay for the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.