Bangladesh Plans Credit Financing for Tobacco Farmers While Restricting Tobacco Use

Source from:  World News (ANI)  03/17/2005

Dhaka, Mar 16 : After banning smoking in public places from Sunday, the Bangladesh government has come up with a plan to disburse micro-credit finance among the country's tobacco producers for the next five years as a means for alternative crops cultivation. "The government is going to launch a micro-credit scheme for the farmers to discourage them from producing tobacco," Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossian told a press conference here on Tuesday. The minister, who piloted in parliament the anti-smoking bill, passed on Sunday restricting smoking in public places and prohibiting advertisement of tobacco in media, hoped that the government would introduce more projects in future to gradually reduce tobacco production. At the press conference, the minister defined public places where smoking is punishable offence. He said the educational institutions, government, semi-government and autonomous offices, libraries, lifts, hospitals, clinics, court buildings, airports, sea and river port buildings, railway stations and bus terminal buildings, ferries, movies houses, covered exhibition centres, theatres, children's parks and other places designated by the gazette notification are the areas restricted of smoking rickshaws, uncovered boats and vans will remain out of the purview of the law, the minister said. Regarding media advertisements, Hossain said that the law prohibits advertisement of tobacco products in movie houses, government-private television channels, sale of movies or videotapes containing tobacco products, publication of advertisement in books, magazines, leaflets, handbills, billboards and newspapers. The law also said 30 per cent of the packets of all kinds of tobacco-related products must be focused by anti-tobacco message through colourful and well-visible advertisement. Violation of this provision of the new enactment would result in three months of imprisonment or financial plenty of Tk 1000 while the public place smoking will result in financial penalty of Taka 50. The law also restricts installation of vending machines in public places to sell tobacco products. The law passed in the parliament would come into effect when it gets presidential consent. Hossain said the objective of the new law is not to ban tobacco production in the country. But the bill would help keep tobacco production and use controlled. Enditem