Tobacco Settlement Provision Toughened

A lead negotiator on the proposed tobacco settlement said Sunday that problems over the deal’s limits on the government’s ability to regulate nicotine have been resolved.

Critics of the agreement, along with President Clinton, have said the Food and Drug Administration’s authority over nicotine must be strengthened if the deal is to be approved.

Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore said Sunday that the issue has been renegotiated.

“We are now in agreement with the strongest language that will be agreed to by the White House,” Moore said on ABC’s “This Week.”

But White House officials were unavailable to confirm Moore’s account.

Clinton, who is still reviewing the agreement, is expected to announce his objections in early September.