The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars, reports Reuters.

The Biden administration's historic proposal, which comes a year after the agency announced the plan, has yet to be finalised and may take years to implement.
For decades, menthol cigarettes have been in the crosshairs of anti-smoking groups who argue that they contribute to disproportionate health burdens on Black communities and play a role in enticing young people to smoke.
Menthol cigarettes, banned in many states including California and Massachusetts, account for more than a third of the industry's overall market share in the US, despite an overall decline in smoking rates in the country, the report said.
According to the FDA, there were more than 18.5 million menthol cigarette smokers ages 12 and older in the country in 2019, with particularly high rates of use by youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic groups. Published modeling studies have estimated a 15 per cent reduction in smoking within 40 years if menthol cigarettes were no longer available, the FDA said.
The public can submit comments from 5 May to 5 July, and the agency will decide whether to make a final decision after reviewing the comments.
Shares of Altria, BAT and Imperial were mixed in afternoon trading. "We believe harm reduction, not prohibition, is the better path forward," Altria said, adding that pulling these products out of the legal marketplace will push them into unregulated and criminal markets.
BAT said that evidence from other markets, including Canada and the EU where similar bans have been imposed, demonstrate little impact on overall cigarette consumption.
Thursday's announcement has no near-term bearing on the ability to manufacture, market, sell or consume flavoured cigars or menthol cigarettes, Imperial said. "We believe that any final implementation, if it comes, is several years away."
The American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups have also opposed the move, expressing concerns that a ban will have a disproportionate impact Black and Brown communities.