By Patrick Wingrove and Emma Rumney

(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to fast-track reviews of four tobacco firms’ nicotine pouches in a pilot program launching on Monday, amid pressure from the Trump administration to speed up approvals, according to meeting transcripts seen by Reuters.

The FDA aims to finish reviewing the pouches from Philip Morris International, Altria, Reynolds American – part of British American Tobacco – and Turning Point Brands by December, according to one transcript of an agency meeting held on Friday.

Tobacco companies have previously had to wait years for their products to be cleared. The agency authorized its first group of pouches, 20 of PMI’s pouch products under its successful label Zyn, in January, over five years after the company f

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