abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
Future cause of concern for the Industry
The implementation of the new Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation) Bill 2000 will remove the vagueness over health warnings. Direct warnings like Tobacco Causes Cancer or Smoking Can Kill You will have to be used by the companies now.
Most importantly, the statutory warning spelt in English and one local language on each pack should be of the same size as the largest panel on the pack. Besides, the Bill has made the manufacturer to specify the content of nicotine and tar on the packets.
The Cabinet Committee reviewing the Bill has also rightly increased the fine for smoking in public places from a meager Rs 100 to Rs 250.
Undoubtedly, the Bill, full of prohibitory clauses, is very good in principle and has been drafted taking into account the interest of public health. But there is very little said about the way these clauses have to be enforced, except that the powers of prosecution rest with police.
Moreover, there are some loopholes too in the law. Since cigarettes is a central subject, the Bill's regulations only cover the smoking stick which would be applicable nationwide. However, it would depend on the individual states to adopt or refuse legislations regarding other tobacco products like gutka, pan masala that are on the state list.
Punjab and Rajasthan are keen to pass the necessary resolutions but Andhra Pradesh is not. It is well known that Andhra Pradesh's CM, Chandrababu Naidu is a tobacco supporter and has given concessions to the industry in his state.
Another major lacunae of the Bill is that it has not banned surrogate sponsorship or common branding. Although tobacco companies and media companies have been banned from sponsoring sports and cultural events, ITC (India's largest tobacco firm) has a gameplan ready to skirt it.
ITC has registered Wills Sports as an apparel brand but Wills is also a popular cigarette brand. So if ITC advertises Wills Sports, it can promote cigarettes under the garb of promoting its sports-cum-apparel.
In case of any opposition, they can easily come out clean. Besides the Wills, ITC also uses Gold Flake and Bristol as brands to promote sports events like Rovers Cup Football.
After the Cabinet's decision, ITC lost Rs 16.65 (1.86 %) to close at Rs 878.25 on the BSE. Although, the tobacco companies will slash their advertisement budgets (which is currently around Rs 250 crore) initially, there is every possibility that the tobacco lobby will use its arm to dilute the stringent norms to its own advantage just as it did when Nitish Kumar had banned sale of cigarettes on railway platforms some time back.
The Bill will certainly act as an effective entry barrier for new entrants including overseas companies. And legally, the ban cannot be categorised as anti-competition since it involves a government Act. The government can impose reasonable restrictions under Article 19 of the Constitution. Whatever the outcome may be on the advertisement front, the Bill is sure to protect passive smokers and put curb on teenagers consuming tobacco products.
Smoking in public places will also go but the government needs to mark No Smoking Zones and give thrust to the regulating machinery which can oversee that people do not smoke in these areas.
The Bill also makes a sound economic sense. The government earnings from excise duty on cigarettes was Rs 5,200 crore in 1998-99, while the estimated cost on treatment of patients suffering from tobacco-related diseases was Rs 13,517 crore.
In India, around 10 lakh people die of tobacco-related diseases. Research also shows that the median survival of smokers is 7.5 years shorter compared to non-smokers. Fifty-five countries have enacted legislation that wants the smokers and tells him about the evil of tobacco smoking.
India is the 22nd country to impose a compulsory ban on advertisements of tobacco products and it is the 20th to make it mandatory to indicate nicotine and tar contents on every cigarette pack thus giving communication of informed choice to the consumers.
However we should not forget that India is also the second biggest producer of tobacco in the world and the tobacco industry provides employment to 2.6 crore people in the country. Around 11.2 million workers are involved in the production and trade of tobacco products including 4.4 million bidi workers. But on the other hand, World Bank economists say that the money saved on tobacco, if spent on other goods, will create more jobs than those lost.
Estimates show that closing the tobacco industry entirely will lead to an increase of 18 per cent in the number of jobs in Bangladesh, a country somewhat like India in terms of the farmers dependent on tobacco.
Smoking is a habit and smokers tend to downplay the reminder of the product. However, that's not actually the aim of the Bill. The Bill wants to reduce the number of smokers in long run.
And if the government does not yield, the Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation) Bill 2000 will reduce the number of smokers as the tobacco-control policies have done in Thailand, Singapore and South Africa. And once every tobacco-consumer is looked down upon, we would not require any deterrent to check such consumption.
The implementation of the new Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation) Bill 2000 will remove the vagueness over health warnings. Direct warnings like Tobacco Causes Cancer or Smoking Can Kill You will have to be used by the companies now.
Most importantly, the statutory warning spelt in English and one local language on each pack should be of the same size as the largest panel on the pack. Besides, the Bill has made the manufacturer to specify the content of nicotine and tar on the packets.
The Cabinet Committee reviewing the Bill has also rightly increased the fine for smoking in public places from a meager Rs 100 to Rs 250.
Undoubtedly, the Bill, full of prohibitory clauses, is very good in principle and has been drafted taking into account the interest of public health. But there is very little said about the way these clauses have to be enforced, except that the powers of prosecution rest with police.
Moreover, there are some loopholes too in the law. Since cigarettes is a central subject, the Bill's regulations only cover the smoking stick which would be applicable nationwide. However, it would depend on the individual states to adopt or refuse legislations regarding other tobacco products like gutka, pan masala that are on the state list.
Punjab and Rajasthan are keen to pass the necessary resolutions but Andhra Pradesh is not. It is well known that Andhra Pradesh's CM, Chandrababu Naidu is a tobacco supporter and has given concessions to the industry in his state.
Another major lacunae of the Bill is that it has not banned surrogate sponsorship or common branding. Although tobacco companies and media companies have been banned from sponsoring sports and cultural events, ITC (India's largest tobacco firm) has a gameplan ready to skirt it.
ITC has registered Wills Sports as an apparel brand but Wills is also a popular cigarette brand. So if ITC advertises Wills Sports, it can promote cigarettes under the garb of promoting its sports-cum-apparel.
In case of any opposition, they can easily come out clean. Besides the Wills, ITC also uses Gold Flake and Bristol as brands to promote sports events like Rovers Cup Football.
After the Cabinet's decision, ITC lost Rs 16.65 (1.86 %) to close at Rs 878.25 on the BSE. Although, the tobacco companies will slash their advertisement budgets (which is currently around Rs 250 crore) initially, there is every possibility that the tobacco lobby will use its arm to dilute the stringent norms to its own advantage just as it did when Nitish Kumar had banned sale of cigarettes on railway platforms some time back.
The Bill will certainly act as an effective entry barrier for new entrants including overseas companies. And legally, the ban cannot be categorised as anti-competition since it involves a government Act. The government can impose reasonable restrictions under Article 19 of the Constitution. Whatever the outcome may be on the advertisement front, the Bill is sure to protect passive smokers and put curb on teenagers consuming tobacco products.
Smoking in public places will also go but the government needs to mark No Smoking Zones and give thrust to the regulating machinery which can oversee that people do not smoke in these areas.
The Bill also makes a sound economic sense. The government earnings from excise duty on cigarettes was Rs 5,200 crore in 1998-99, while the estimated cost on treatment of patients suffering from tobacco-related diseases was Rs 13,517 crore.
In India, around 10 lakh people die of tobacco-related diseases. Research also shows that the median survival of smokers is 7.5 years shorter compared to non-smokers. Fifty-five countries have enacted legislation that wants the smokers and tells him about the evil of tobacco smoking.
India is the 22nd country to impose a compulsory ban on advertisements of tobacco products and it is the 20th to make it mandatory to indicate nicotine and tar contents on every cigarette pack thus giving communication of informed choice to the consumers.
However we should not forget that India is also the second biggest producer of tobacco in the world and the tobacco industry provides employment to 2.6 crore people in the country. Around 11.2 million workers are involved in the production and trade of tobacco products including 4.4 million bidi workers. But on the other hand, World Bank economists say that the money saved on tobacco, if spent on other goods, will create more jobs than those lost.
Estimates show that closing the tobacco industry entirely will lead to an increase of 18 per cent in the number of jobs in Bangladesh, a country somewhat like India in terms of the farmers dependent on tobacco.
Smoking is a habit and smokers tend to downplay the reminder of the product. However, that's not actually the aim of the Bill. The Bill wants to reduce the number of smokers in long run.
And if the government does not yield, the Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation) Bill 2000 will reduce the number of smokers as the tobacco-control policies have done in Thailand, Singapore and South Africa. And once every tobacco-consumer is looked down upon, we would not require any deterrent to check such consumption.