COURT REVERSES LANDMARK TOBACCO RULING

RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that
Congress did not give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory
jurisdiction over tobacco products, reversing a landmark lower court decision.

``We are thus of the opinion that Congress did not intend to delegate
jurisdiction over tobacco products to the FDA. Accordingly, the decision of
the district court is reversed,'' the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
said. A three-judge panel of the appeals court, with one judge dissenting,
said the case was not about regulating youth smoking and the health effects
of smoking, but instead centered on ``who has the power to make this type
of major policy decision.''

``The FDA has exceeded the authority granted to it by Congress, and its
rule-making action cannot stand,'' the judges said.

The appeals court, which sits here, reversed a controversial ruling by a
North Carolina judge that the FDA had authority to regulate nicotine as a
drug and tobacco products as drug-delivery devices, but had no authority to
restrict tobacco advertising.

In August 1996 the FDA issued sweeping regulations restricting the sale and
distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to minors and limiting the
advertising and promotion of tobacco products.

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.

Checked-by: Richard Lake