CLINTON WELCOMES PHILIP MORRIS STANCE ON FDA ROLE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton on Tuesday welcomed the
reported acceptance by the nation's largest tobacco company, Philip
Morris Cos. Inc., that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could
regulate tobacco in the future.

``I am heartened today by news reports that the nation's leading
cigarette maker is now willing to accept government regulation of
tobacco,'' Clinton told reporters at a briefing on the White House
lawn.

``If Philip Morris is ready to support the FDA provisions of the
tobacco bill the industry and the congressional leadership killed
just two years ago, that is an important step forward,'' Clinton added.

The major shift by Philip Morris, which makes such well-known brands
as Marlboro, and had steadfastly rejected any FDA regulation, was
disclosed in a Washington Post interview on Tuesday.

The newspaper quoted Senior Vice President Steven Parrish as saying
that Philip Morris was willing to allow the agency to regulate
tobacco products, pending details to be worked out in
negotiations.

``I could see at some point in the future an appropriate way to
regulate tobacco products,'' Parrish told the Post.

The tobacco industry agreed in the past to some federal regulation in
exchange for settling an onslaught of lawsuits by states seeking to
recover the costs of treating sick smokers.

But that offer was never put into effect because federal tobacco
legislation aimed at implementing it failed in a bitter fight in the
Senate two years ago.

The Post said the issue was revived amid a major effort by Philip
Morris to rehabilitate its public image after recent revelations that
the tobacco industry knew much more about the dangers and
addictiveness of smoking than previously acknowledged.

Philip Morris is set to formally announce its proposal at a forum in
California on Tuesday.