Source: Richmond Times Author: David Ress Jun 23, 2009 (Richmond Times-Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --  One of the real tests of how federal regulation will affect tobacco use could be something you'll spot at a convenience store counter. A new law signed by President Barack Obama yesterday will, among many changes, move all tobacco products -- snuff and cigars as well as cigarettes -- behind the counter. How they share space back there could clear the way for more competition in a market now dominated by Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. It's competition that Chesterfield County-based Swedish Match North America is hoping for, and a rule it believes could lead to something it's long wanted: more space on retailer's shelves for its snuff and chewing tobacco. "It's back to old fashioned blocking and tackling, how to be more competitive -- including against cigarettes," said Gerry Roerty, Swedish Match's president and general counsel. Both Richmond-area tobacco companies broke with most of the rest of the tobacco industry in supporting the regulation of tobacco by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "We have consistently advocated for federal regulation that recognizes the serious harm caused by tobacco products," said Michael E. Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive of Altria, parent of Philip Morris USA, the largest cigarette-maker. But critics say Altria's nearly decade-old support of regulation is a way to lock in its dominant share of the U.S. market -- both for cigarettes and now oral tobacco, after buying the nation's No.1 smokeless tobacco-maker this [...]