NEW DELHI: The Health Ministry has written to the states and ministries to strictly enforce bigger pictorial warnings on tobacco product packs that became mandatory from April 1.
The government wants manufacturers to cover 85 per cent of a cigarette pack’s surface in health warnings, up from 20 per cent now.
The ministry says even now most tobacco products don’t carry the new warnings and it wants that to change. It has written to several ministries, government departments and states to strictly start enforcing bigger pictorial warnings on tobacco products. NDTV has accessed several of these letters with the ministry emphasising, “the effective implementation of rules requires strong support and involvement of other concerned government agencies.”
A letter has been written to the Foreign Secretary as well. “The norms of bigger pictorial warnings apply to all tobacco products even those which are imported into India. We want our missions in other counties to ensure that word gets out,” said a ministry official, requesting anonymity. Read More>
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