New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg has been working on a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration the authority for the first time to regulate tobacco products.
The public health community has hailed the proposed legislation as a possible breakthrough.
But last week, talks on the bill broke down before it was even introduced.
NHPR's Washington Correspondent Judith Smelser has this look at what happened.
It was billed as a possibility for a historic compromise.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, Tobacco state lawmakers were prepared to LET THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION REGULATE their prize cash crop.
In return, public health advocates would support A 15 BILLION DOLLAR federal relief PACKAGE for struggling tobacco growers.
But last week, talks on the FDA part of the deal fell apart.
Matt Myers is the President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
4:11
"Senator Gregg got involved in this because he saw a real opportunity to bring together two parties who normally don't work together and develop a consensus. In the end, at least for now, he didn't succeed."
The legislation would have allowed the FDA to RESTRICT tobacco advertising that influences children.
It would also have given the agency the authority to decide when tobacco companies can claim that a product is "light" or otherwise a lower risk to smokers.
But one of the main sticking points in the talks involved the FDA's ability to require tobacco companies to remove harmful substances from cigarettes and other products.
Again, Matt Myers.
2:18
"The tobacco industry was insisting on ambiguous language in the bill that we thought would've allowed them to file lawsuits against the FDA anytime the FDA took a serious action to remove a known cancer-causing agent in the product. That's what was unacceptable to us."
Senator Gregg and the Senate committee he chairs were trying to walk a fine line on this issue.
Tobacco companies fear that if the FDA is given free reign to regulate the content of tobacco products, the agency could require changes that make those products unacceptable to consumers.
Mark Berlind is with Altria Group, the parent company of Phillip Morris USA.
1:19
"Phillip Morris USA supports FDA authority to remove harmful ingredients and harmful smoke constitutents. We just think that it needs to be done in the context of preserving consumer preferences to some degree. // 2:25 There has been legislation introduced in the House for example that specifically says that although FDA can change cigarettes as it sees fit to protect public health, that the changes can't be so radical that they make the product unacceptable for adult consumption."
The language in the final draft of Senator Gregg's bill touched on the tobacco industry's concerns.
BUT it satisfied neither the tobacco companies nor the public health community.
Senator Gregg was unavailable for comment on this story
But in a statement last week, he insisted that his final draft would've produced strong FDA reform.
The concept of FDA regulation OF TOBACCO has had the unusual effect of splitting the industry.
TOBACCO GIANT Phillip Morris supports regulation.
the smaller companies are staunchly opposed.
Steve Watson is with Lorillard Tobacco, which produces Newport, Kent, Old Gold and Maverick brand cigarettes.
He suspects Philip Morris has an ulterior motive, especially when it comes to the advertising provisions in the FDA bill.
2:31
"What the FDA would be charged with is to regulating and restriciting the type of advertising, the type of communication we can have with adult consumers. And given the dominant position that one of our main competitors, Philip Morris, has in the market, no doubt that if regulation like this were to be enacted, Philip Morris's position - particularly with its Marlboro brand - would only grow exponentially and would virtually eliminate any type of competition from smaller manufactureres."
Mark Berlind with Philip Morris rejects this suggestion.
4:38
"The advertising issue is really a totally false issue that is rasied by those other companies. 99 percent of this legislation has nothing to do with advertising issues. It has to do with protecting the public health."
Berlind also points out that tobacco advertising is already restricted by the tobacco settlement agreements of the 1990s.
Some lawmakers are still optimistic that the differences over FDA regulation can be bridged.
Republican Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, who's been working closely with Senator Gregg on the legislation, still believes a bill can be introduced before the end of the year.
But stakeholders like Philip Morris and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids are not optimistic.
While they hope the talks can be re-started, they tend to regard this round of negotiations as a missed opportunity.
For NHPR News, this is Judith Smelser in Washington.
