By Nancy Zuckerbrod
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The government could impose tough new restrictions on cigarette manufacturers under a plan that key lawmakers agreed on Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration would be given authority to regulate tobacco, allowing it to ban certain ingredients in cigarettes and other products under twin bills.

Sens. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., have been haggling over the details of the legislation for the past several months, after a near-deal collapsed last fall. House sponsors are Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

The legislation forbids the FDA to ban cigarettes and says the agency can reduce but not eliminate nicotine.

Use of the terms "light" and "ultra-light" would be prohibited in advertising unless the FDA approved them. Studies have shown those categories of cigarettes haven't reduced health risks to smokers.

A fee on tobacco companies would pay for the legislation.

Industry leader Philip Morris USA supports FDA regulation. Company officials have said it would help the company market new tobacco products.

The other major manufacturers oppose FDA regulation, saying new advertising restrictions would prevent them from capturing any of Philip Morris' market share.

Senate lawmakers from tobacco states who previously fought FDA regulation now say they would support it in exchange for support of a measure that would pay tobacco farmers to leave the federal system that sets price and production controls on U.S. leaf.

Farmers say they want out of the system, which in recent years has dramatically restricted the amount of tobacco they can sell.

The issue has gained attention in both chambers in recent weeks following a statement by President Bush in Ohio in which he said he did not think the tobacco program needed to be changed. That caused a furor among tobacco farmers and politicians in the South.