December 9, 2011   Former Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and of Health and Human Services, U.S. Surgeons General, and Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, back to the Johnson Administration, known as The Citizens’ Commission to Protect the Truth, today urged the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, to accept the determination of a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel and ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban menthol cigarettes in order to bring the United States into compliance with its international treaty obligations. In concluding that menthol and clove flavored cigarettes are like products, the WTO panel’s decision drew heavily on the FDA Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee’s March 11, 2011 Report and Recommendations on the Impact of the Use of Menthol in Cigarettes on the Public Health, which found that removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/former-hew-hhs-secretaries-surgeons-general-and-cdc-directors-urge-trade-representative-to-accept-finding-of-wto-panel-and-encourage-fda-to-ban-menthol-flavoring-in-cigarettes-2011-12-08