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The smoke seems to have finally cleared over the issue of warnings that will display a picture of a scorpion, indicating cancer, and a diseased lung on tobacco products with the Supreme Court taking an undertaking from the Union government that the law will be implemented from May 31
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice B N Agrawal and Justice G S Singhvi, on May 5, 2009, cleared the display of pictorial warnings on all tobacco product packages in the midst of allegations by health activists that the law was being diluted to favour the tobacco industry. The warning will be positioned parallel to the top edge of the package and in the same direction as information in the principal display area. This is mandated under Section 7 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003. Rules under the Act were framed in 2006 but amended in 2007 to be implemented from December 1, 2007. However, implementation was postponed to March 31, 2008, and again to November 2008. The specified warning will be inscribed in the same language as that used on the pack. In case of more than one language, the warning shall appear in two languages, one in which the brand name appears and the other in any one of the languages that appear on the product pack. For smoking forms of tobacco, the specified warning is depiction of diseased lungs, while for chewing and smokeless forms the warning will be a scorpion. Packaging and labelling rules under the Act mandate that no message that directly or indirectly promotes a specific tobacco brand or tobacco usage in general can be inscribed on the package, and no product will be sold unless the package contains the specified health warning. The warning may be printed, pasted or affixed. The Centre recently issued a notification stating that tobacco products would carry the health warning covering 40% of the principal display area of the front panel of the product. This was strongly objected to by the anti-tobacco community, including former Union health minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, as it was felt that the health warning had been diluted. Meanwhile, a case filed by an arm of the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) against the dilution of pictorial warnings came up before the Supreme Court early this week. The petitioner said that although initially the government had decided to have warnings on both sides of the cigarette pack, the minutes were later changed to the effect that “the pictorial warning shall be limited to 40% of the principal display area on the front panel of the package only”. A notification to this effect was issued on May 3. The government also decided to exempt large packs from the purview of the rules. Health activists see this as a “death blow” to their efforts. The strongest criticism came from the Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control (AFTC), comprising a number of anti-tobacco networks, which said that the government was counting tobacco votes over tobacco deaths. The president of Public Health Foundation of India and reputed cardiologist Dr K Srinath Reddy said any dilution of the pictorial warnings detracted from the country’s commitment to protecting people against known tobacco-related health risks. Dr Ramadoss alleged that the minutes of a Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting on pictorial warnings had been altered. Since its constitution in early-2007, the GoM has delayed implementation of the pictorial warnings for two years. The former health minister has in the past too alleged that pro-tobacco lobbies were at work and that the government, after bringing in the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules in 2006 was dragging its feet on its implementation. The Supreme Court asked Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam to place the minutes before it. After studying them, the bench rejected allegations that the minutes had been altered after health minister Ramadoss had affixed his signature on March 24. It said there was nothing on record to substantiate the claims and disposed of the petition with liberty to the petitioner to challenge the notification. India has signed and ratified the World Health Organisation-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which enlists key strategies for reduction in the demand and supply of tobacco products. Article 11 of the WHO-FCTC mandates that all countries that are party to the FCTC should display pictorial health warnings on tobacco product packs. Tobacco use is a major cause of death, disease and disability; it kills 9 lakh Indians every year according to the Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control. May 31 is World No Tobacco Day. The theme this year is ‘Tobacco Health Warnings’. Source: The Hindu, May 7, 2009
The Statesman, May 7, 2009
Hindu Businessline, May 6, 2008
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