A letter to US Trade Representative Michael Froman signed by chief law enforcement officials of 45 states and territories asks tobacco products be removed from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks to preserve local ability to regulate them.

“Based on the history to date with respect to such challenges to regulatory authority, we believe that the only way to avoid the damage to public health posed by a multilateral agreement like the TPP is to carve tobacco out of the agreement entirely, as the government of Malaysia and others have proposed,” states the letter from the National Association of Attorneys General.
"Experience has shown that state and local laws and regulations may be challenged by tobacco companies that aggressively assert claims under bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements," the letter states.