The Centre on Saturday remained firm on its decision to implement larger pictorial warnings on tobacco products, refusing to budge after a threat was issued by the tobacco industry to halt production.
Stating that the Government will go all out to curb tobacco use in the country, the Ministry of Health came down hard on the tobacco manufacturers and said there was “no ambiguity” in its policy requiring tobacco products packaged after April 1 to carry larger pictorial warnings covering 85 per cent of the display area.
“We want to clarify that there is no ambiguity. This is a bogey raised by the tobacco industry. The case is crystal clear. We had issued the notification in September last year. If they had found an ambiguity, why did they send their letter in March 2016,” said a senior Ministry official. He added that the Government’s stand will not undergo any change. “Our stand is very clear. Whatever needs to be done to curb tobacco consumption, will be done.”
The statement has come a day after major cigarette manufacturers, including ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST, decided to shut their factories and stop production citing “ambiguity” in implementing the policy issued by the Health Ministry.
The Ministry’s September 24, 2015 notification to implement the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and labeling) Amendment Rules, 2014, was issued after the Rajasthan High Court directed it to do so. Ministry sources disclosed that the Government is implementing Court order and tobacco manufacturers are free to approach Court for seeking clarification.
The tobacco lobby has been crying foul as the decision has come despite a Parliamentary panel’s recommendation for drastic reduction in the pictorial warning size. The manufacturers who have stopped production are members of the Tobacco Institute of India (TII) and account for over 98 per cent of duty-paid cigarettes sold in the country. The estimated production revenue loss would be to the tune of over `350 crore per day for tobacco product manufacturers.
Dismissing the talk of revenue loss by the tobacco manufacturers, Health Ministry sources said, “If one undertakes an overall social cost analysis keeping in mind the money which the Government spends on anti-tobacco campaigns and the health benefits which people get, there is only benefit they earn.”
TII Director Syed Mahmood Ahmad said the Indian tobacco industry had written to the Ministry on March 15 seeking clarification on the matter.