Big tobacco has waded into the ongoing push to amend the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, has retained a lobbyist to represent the company's interest in the FCPA. The move comes as several other major corporations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have launched an expensive lobbying campaign to amend the the anti-foreign bribery law, which they argue is vague and detrimental to U.S. businesses.

Altria's legal and government affairs wing paid $50,000 to lobbyist John McMickle to lobby Congress on the FCPA and other issues in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a disclosure with the Senate Office of Public Records.

A spokesman for Altria said that its lobbyists were not directly lobbying on the FCPA but were "monitoring the debate." McMickle declined to comment.

A handful of Senators and Congressmen are currently weighing potential amendments to the FCPA, which prohibits bribes to foreign officials to win business.