India MPs to seek smaller health warnings on cigarette packs - sources (updated)

VST Industries

11/03/2016 11:05

(Adds details of the report, quotes) 
    * Tussle between Indian lawmakers, health ministry 
    * Industry says bigger pack warnings unreasonable 
    * Tobacco linked to 900,000 deaths in India every year 
 
    By Aditya Kalra and Nigam Prusty 
    NEW DELHI, March 11 (Reuters) - A panel of Indian lawmakers 
will call for smaller health warnings on cigarette packs, saying 
the government's requirement of 85 percent of surface area is 
too harsh on the tobacco industry, sources who have seen the 
panel's draft report said. 
    The decision is the latest twist in a tussle between the 
health ministry, which wants to step up an anti-smoking 
campaign, in line with the rest of the world, and members of 
parliament who fear lower sales will hurt tobacco farmers.  
    Tobacco use is linked to 900,000 deaths every year in India, 
and the government had ordered manufacturers to print health 
warnings covering 85 percent of the surface of a cigarette pack, 
up from 20 percent now.  
    But the parliamentary committee has suggested in its report 
that the warnings be limited to half the packs' surface area, as 
a move to protect tobacco farmers' interests, while promoting 
health. 
    The panel feels "a balanced approach" would be to keep the 
warning size at 50 percent, according to two sources who have 
seen the report, but asked not to be identified because the 
draft is not public. 
    Panel chairman Dilip Gandhi declined to comment. 
    However, the government was unlikely to change its plan of 
implementing the stringent rules on cigarette packs from April, 
said a health ministry official who declined to be identified 
because of the sensitivity of the matter. 
    The government is not bound by the decision of the panel, 
but it has political clout as its members are drawn from both 
the ruling party and opposition groups. Activists fear the call 
will delay adoption of stiffer warnings on the packs. 
    Euromonitor International estimates India's cigarette market 
was worth $9 billion in 2014. Leading players include ITC Ltd 
 ITC.NS , VST Industries  VSTI.NS  and Godfrey Phillips India 
Ltd  GDFR.NS , a partner of U.S.-based Philip Morris 
International  PM.N .  
    ITC did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking 
comment, while officials of Godfrey Phillips and VST were not 
reachable. 
    The Canadian Cancer Society ranks India 136th out of 198 
countries that use warnings to deter smokers, lagging nations 
such as Australia and Thailand that top the list. 
    The lawmakers' report would send an undesirable signal, said 
one official of an anti-tobacco alliance.   
    "It will be a very unfortunate reflection on commitment to 
health by people involved in policy making," said Shailesh Vaite 
of the Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control, which 
groups more than 350 global organizations.  
    Industry lobby the Tobacco Institute of India (TII) has 
called the new rules drastic and unreasonable, saying they will 
hit farmers' incomes and fuel consumption of smuggled cigarettes 
that do not follow packaging norms. 
    TII declined to comment on the parliamentary panel report as 
it has yet to be published. 
 
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Cigarette package health warnings globally    http://reut.rs/1RktoxG 
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 (Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Clarence Fernandez) 
 ((aditya.kalra@thomsonreuters.com; +91-011-41781009; Reuters 
Messaging: aditya.kalra.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)(Twitter: 
@adityakalra)) 
 
Keywords: INDIA TOBACCO/