April 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug

Administration's proposal to ban menthol flavored cigarettes in

the United States faced another setback, according to

anti-tobacco advocates who noted that White House officials have

missed another deadline to issue a final rule on a ban.

The White House declined to comment.

Menthol cigarettes account for a third of the industry's

overall market share in the United States. The highly addictive

products have been cited for their appeal to young smokers, as

well as significant health impacts for Black communities, where

they are marketed heavily.

After the FDA in 2022 issued a long-awaited proposal to ban

menthol cigarettes, several health and anti-smoking groups urged

the Biden administration to enforce it.

The Administration delayed issuing a final rule in December

and now has missed the new deadline it set to issue the rule by

March 2024, according to a statement on Monday from the Campaign

for Tobacco Free Kids and the NAACP, both of which support the

FDA's push for a ban of menthol cigarettes.

Civil rights groups have contended for years that menthol

cigarettes pose a disproportionately higher risk in Black

communities, where they are heavily marketed.

About 81% of Black adults who smoked cigarettes used menthol

varieties, compared with 34% of white adults, according to the

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

States including Massachusetts and California have

previously banned all flavored tobacco products.

U.S.-focused tobacco company Altria ( MO ) and rival British

American Tobacco ( BTI ) both get more than 20% of their

revenue from menthol, Morningstar analyst Philip Gorham

estimated in notes in March.

Altria ( MO ) has the largest exposure, Gorham said, though British

American also has high sales of menthol versions of top brands

like Newport.

BAT cited uncertainty around the menthol ban as one factor

in its decision to write down the value of some of its U.S.

cigarette brands last year.

Over 100 organizations, including the NAACP, the American

Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics,

placed a full page ad in the Washington Post recently calling on

Biden not to further delay the ban.

"It is deeply disappointing that the Biden Administration

appears likely to miss another deadline to issue a final FDA

rule eliminating menthol cigarettes," Yolonda Richardson,

president the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said on Thursday

as the deadline approached.

"Research shows that eliminating menthol cigarettes will

reduce the number of kids who start smoking, increase the number

of smokers who quit, and save up to 654,000 lives within 40

years, including 255,000 Black lives," she said in a statement.