98-1649. Report of the Tar, Nicotine, and Carbon Monoxide of the Smoke of 1249 Varieties of Domestic Cigarettes For the Year 1995

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3576-3577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-1649]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Report of the Tar, Nicotine, and Carbon Monoxide of the Smoke of 
1249 Varieties of Domestic Cigarettes For the Year 1995

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission publishes the Report of the Tar, 
Nicotine, and Carbon Monoxide of the Smoke of 1249 Varieties of 
Domestic Cigarettes.

DATES: January 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the report are available from the FTC's World Wide 
Web site at: http:www.ftc.gov and from the FTC's Public Reference 
Branch, Room 130, 6th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20580. [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tonya Esposito, Legal Assistant, Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, 6th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20580. Telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These are the most recent test results of 
the tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide yields of the smoke of domestic 
cigarettes reported by the FTC. This Report contains data on 1249 
varieties of cigarettes manufactured and sold in the United States in 
1995. The Tobacco Institute Testing Laboratory (TITL), a private 
laboratory operated by the cigarette industry, conducted the tar, 
nicotine, and carbon monoxide testing for the widely-available domestic 
cigarette varieties. This testing was conducted under the review of a 
representative of the FTC through periodic unannounced inspections. 
TITL provided the results to the respective cigarette companies. The 
companies provided the data generated by TITL regarding their own 
brands to the FTC in response to compulsory process issued by the 
Commission. Cigarette smoke from generic, private label, and not-
widely-available cigarettes was not tested by TITL, but was tested by 
the cigarette companies and the test results were provided to the FTC 
in response to compulsory process.
    On September 9, 1997, the Commission issued a notice requesting 
public comment on proposed revisions to the testing method currently 
used to determine the tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide ratings of 
cigarettes. The proposed methodology would require that each cigarette 
variety be tested under two different sets of smoking conditions, 
rather than the single set used under the current system. The revised 
test method would produce tar,

[[Page 3577]]

nicotine and carbon monoxide yields using both the current testing 
parameters and more intensive smoking conditions, thus producing a 
range of potential yields for each cigarette. The Commission also 
requested comment on: (1) the feasibility of generating the upper tier 
of ratings through mathematical formulas, rather than actual testing on 
a smoking machine; and (2) the usefulness and feasibility of two 
different legends that could be used in advertising to disclose the 
ratings. Comments are due by February 4, 1998.

    By direction of the Commission, Commissioner Thompson and 
Commissioner Swindle not participating.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-1649 Filed 1-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M