India: Tobacco Panel for Increase in the Permissible Age to 25 from 18

Source from:  Business Standard (in)  10/15/2014

The panel formed by the Union ministry of health and family welfare to review the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, has come out with its suggestions. These include a ban on advertisements of tobacco products at points of sale, banning the sale of loose cigarettes sticks, heftier fines on violations of the Act and increasing the permissible age for buying tobacco products to 25 from 18.

The panel was formed in July. It was led by Ramesh Chandra, advisor at the ministry.

According to the proposed recommendations by the committee the new amended act may be called the COTPA2014. It has recommended that sale of loose cigarette sticks or tobacco products in loose should be completely banned as it makes it cheaperand convenient for youngsters to avail themselves of tobacco products.

It has also been recommended in the report that the minimum legal age for buying tobacco products should be increased to 25 years.

At present anyone 18 or abovecan buy tobacco products and cigarettes. If implemented, the move could dent profits of major cigarette companies in India as a substantial chunk of their consumers are in the age group of 18-25. A Global Adult Tobacco Survey of 2010 conducted among 15 and above, 35 per cent of the adult population in India (15 or above) consume tobacco: 47 per cent of males and 20 per cent of females.

Advertisements of tobacco products in the traditional media are banned in India, a further ban at point of sale has been recommended by the expert committee. Pont of sale are usually flooded with bannerand poster ads of various tobacco products specially, cigarettes.

The recommendations by the Chandra led committee further point out to the needs of amending provisions which would lead into complete smoking ban from public places to tobacco free public space. It has recommended deleting the section 4 of the act which would result into prohibition of smoking into smoking areas of hotels and restaurants. While the recommendations are surely not going to be favourites among cigarette manufactures of the country the fines for violations of the act are going to make it tough for these companies.

Under section 20 of provision for punishment for failure to give specified warning and nicotine and tar contents, the penalty has recommended to increase the fine to Rs 50,000 from the current level of Rs 5000 for first conviction. For smoking in public places, the penalty amount should not be lessthan Rs 200 but which may extend to RS 1,000. Similarly, the penalty for advertisements of tobacco products fine should be ten times from the current level of Rs 1000 for first conviction. For selling tobacco products to a person below the age of 18 the fine should be between Rs 500 -1000, the committee has recommended. Enditem