Warning on non-compliance

Nearly all tobacco-product producers operating in Bangladesh do not comply completely with government requirements for graphic health warnings, according to a story in The Daily Star.

The story put the proportion of producers that complied only with some of the requirements at more than 92 percent.

It wasn’t clear what market share these producers commanded, though it was reported that 19.2 percent of tobacco product packs were found in a survey to have no graphic warnings.

The non-compliance figure was arrived at in a survey conducted in November by six anti-tobacco organizations: Progga, the National Heart Foundation, the Association for Community Development (ACD), the Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Shimantik and Ipsha.

The survey was said to have been conducted at 120 shops in eight divisional cities.

Those conducting the survey were said to have been looking at whether the graphic warnings covered at least 50 percent of packs; whether the warnings were on both the main faces of the packs; whether government-approved images were used; whether the images had been updated; and whether the sizes of the overall warnings, images and textural warnings were in line with government requirements.

The results of the survey were presented during a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Sunday.

The researchers recommended strict monitoring and enforcement of the warnings law, with the help of mobile courts.

A mobile court has been employed in Bangladesh to hear cases brought against people for smoking in public places, according to a story from January 2016.

At that time, anti-tobacco campaigners were urging Bangladesh’s health minister to be strict in implementing regulations requiring graphic health warnings on tobacco packs, which were due to come into effect on March 19; and the industry was in negotiation with the government about whether the warnings should be at the top or bottom of packs.