India: ''Keep out of Review Panel MPs with Interest in Tobacco Industry''

Source from:  The Hindu 09/28/2015

67-member organisation under the Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and political parties regarding the conflict of interest in nominating members for various parliamentary committees.

The letter highlights the involvement of MPs with commercial or vested interests in the tobacco industry in reviewing tobacco control policies.

It further adds that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed concern over members with "conflicting interest" in the said Committee while considering the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014 notified vide GSR 727-E dated October 15, 2014.

The Committee urged the government that implementation of the said notification may be kept in abeyance.

"The Committee on subordinate legislation has been reconstituted for one more year. The term of this committee ended on August 31 [it had a tenure of one year starting from September 1, 2014] but has been extended for another year, i.e., till August 31, 2016. Interestingly, no members have been changed, including [ beedi baron] Shyam Charan Gupta despite all the noises about the Committee having members with conflicting interest commenting on the pictorial warning issue," noted the letter.

The members have further added that in accordance with the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 5.3, "in setting and implementing India's public health policies with respect to tobacco control, it must protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law".

"India is a party to this treaty and will host the 7th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) of the FCTC next year. In view of India's obligations under FCTC and the world's focus on our country with COP7, the involvement of Members of Parliament with commercial or vested interest in the tobacco industry in reviewing tobacco control policies will amount to a breach of Article 5.3 of the WHO-FCTC and the principle of natural justice."

The group has noted that we "as socially conscious citizens of India, representatives of organisations committed to advancing effective health and development as well as tobacco control policies in India and the patients who have suffered from tobacco-related diseases, would like to request your kind office to take cognizance of any conflict of interest in matters before any Parliamentary Committee and guide the MP to recuse themselves from such proceedings while ensuring they follow the due process." Enditem