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Tag: Nepal

  • Nepal Debates Revival of Janakpur Cigarette Factory

    Nepal Debates Revival of Janakpur Cigarette Factory

    Debate is intensifying over a potential restart of the long-closed Janakpur Cigarette Factory in Nepal, which once employed thousands and contributed significantly to domestic tobacco production and tax revenue. The government-owned factory, which shut down due to management failures, outdated technology, and supply chain issues, remains a focal point of competing policy arguments. The factory produced an estimated 3 to 4 billion cigarettes annually at its peak.

    Proponents of revival say the facility could be modernized through improved technology and private-sector participation to restore jobs and industrial output, while public health advocates warn that resuming cigarette production would increase tobacco-related harm. The government is now weighing how to balance potential economic gains with health and regulatory concerns as pressure builds from industry stakeholders and local voices.

  • Nepal Confiscates 16K Illicit Vapes at Mountain Border

    Nepal Confiscates 16K Illicit Vapes at Mountain Border

    Nepalese authorities seized e-cigarettes valued at Rs 22.4 million ($155,000) at the Korala border, underscoring continued enforcement against illegal vape trade. The Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and Mustang Customs Office intercepted a container carrying 16,000 vape units on Monday (January 12) evening, with the driver taken into custody and the vehicle impounded. The seizure follows a similar operation last year at the same transit point—a high-altitude crossing point with China’s Tibet Region—where vapes worth Rs 68.1 million ($470,000) were confiscated, highlighting persistent smuggling activity along the border.

  • Nepal Says Failed Enforcement Leading to Rising ‘Tobacco Toll’

    Nepal Says Failed Enforcement Leading to Rising ‘Tobacco Toll’

    Nepal says it is facing a worsening public health crisis as tobacco-related deaths have nearly doubled in five years, despite strong laws, which it says are poorly enforced. Experts speaking at an Action Nepal event in Kathmandu said rising consumption reflects deep policy failures and strong tobacco industry influence within state institutions.

    Official data show deaths linked to tobacco rose from 24,800 in 2019 to 39,200 in 2023, costing Nepal Rs 12.2 billion ($84.2 million) annually in healthcare and draining around 1.2% of GDP through medical and productivity losses. Health experts claim that firm enforcement could save over 1.1 million lives in the next 15 years.

    Activists accused industry-linked actors of weakening regulation and raised conflict-of-interest concerns involving Industry Minister Anil Kumar Sinha over legal ties to tobacco companies. Speakers said stalled reforms, weak warning labels, and poor compliance with bans highlight urgent need for accountability and stronger action.

  • Nepal Court Leaves Packaging Warning in Limbo

    Nepal Court Leaves Packaging Warning in Limbo

    Nepal’s plan to mandate 100% coverage of tobacco packaging with health warnings has stalled nearly 10 months after its approval, following a Supreme Court interim order. The directive, sanctioned on February 3 by then-Health Minister Pradip Paudel, was set to take effect August 2. It aimed to expand on Nepal’s earlier 90% warning requirement, which won the country international recognition in 2015.

    The case was filed by Surya Nepal Company, the country’s largest cigarette manufacturer, which challenged the directive in court. As a result, implementation has been blocked, leaving the Ministry of Health unable to enforce the measure. Officials say the judiciary has become an obstacle to tobacco control efforts.

    The Ministry of Health has pledged to revive the stalled directive, stressing the need for dynamic laws to address tobacco’s growing toll.

  • Silk Group Chair Charged in Nepal with $126M Vape Smuggling Case

    Silk Group Chair Charged in Nepal with $126M Vape Smuggling Case

    Nepal’s Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) filed a case against 12 individuals, including Silk Group chairperson Ramesh Sherpa, over alleged involvement in the large-scale smuggling of Chinese electronic cigarettes. The case, lodged at the Lalitpur District Court on August 14, seeks prison terms and fines totaling nearly Rs17.5 billion ($126 million).

    Investigators allege the group used about 100 shipping containers to import vapes disguised as legitimate goods through the Tatopani customs point, bypassing the government’s import ban. A January raid on a Silk warehouse in Sitallheight seized 86,400 vapes, with further evidence collected from company sites in Balkumari and Naxal. Authorities claim Sherpa and his associates fabricated records, created fake transactions, and sold nearly 39,000 vapes without bills, leading to estimated revenue losses of Rs873 million ($6.3 million).

    The DRI has demanded maximum prison terms for Sherpa, his brother-in-law Vijay Sherpa, and other key defendants, while seeking reduced sentences for two secondary accomplices. Officials say the total recovery sought exceeds Rs1.74 billion ($12.5 million), and investigations are continuing, with some seized shipments still held at Tatopani customs warehouses.

  • Nepal Court Lifts Ban on E-Cigarettes

    Nepal Court Lifts Ban on E-Cigarettes

    The Patan High Court in Nepal ordered the government to lift its restrictions on the import and sale of e-cigarettes, allowing vape businesses to resume operations. According to myRepublica, a Division Bench of Justices Kabi Prasad Neupane and Hemant Rawal issued the verdict in favor of Vape Mandu Traders, who filed a writ against several government bodies, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, and the Customs Department.

    The court ruled that the government’s attempt to enforce a vape ban, based on a 2015 tobacco directive, was not legally sufficient to justify blocking trade. Customs offices halted vape imports after circulars were issued by the Ministry of Health’s education and communication wing.

    In the last fiscal year, Nepal collected over Rs 230 million ($1.7 million) in customs revenue from vape imports, highlighting the sector’s economic footprint.

  • Nepal to Require 100% Warnings on Tobacco Packaging

    Nepal to Require 100% Warnings on Tobacco Packaging

    Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population announced that it will increase the warning messages required on tobacco packaging from 90% to 100% effective August 17. It will be required that warning messages in Nepali and “fatal” color images be printed on the inside as well as outside of boxes, packets, wrappers, cartons, parcels, and packaging materials of cigarettes, bidi, chewing tobacco, loose tobacco, and gutkha.

    Ministry Secretary Gopi Krishna Regmi and Secretariat of Health Tax Fund, Kathmandu, said they are amending the Tobacco Products (Control and Regulatory) Act 2068 BS (2011) to prevent manufacturers from branding the products, and to keep homogeneity in the labeling of packages.

  • Nepal’s Plan to License Tobacco Faces Pushback 

    Nepal’s Plan to License Tobacco Faces Pushback 

    Nepal Industry Minister Damodar Bhandari is preparing to grant licenses to the cigarette, tobacco (gutkha), and alcohol industries, according to Republica. The Consumer Awareness Campaign-Nepal (CAC-N), however, expressed strong objection to the government’s plan. CAC-N Chairperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari urged the government not to permit the production of items harmful to public health.  

    In a case where the Supreme Court issued a directive to control tobacco products, CAC-N raised concerns that granting licenses to such industries would constitute contempt of court. President Bhattarai stated that the campaign has also urged Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to take the issue seriously for the protection of public health and property, and urged Minister Bhandari to immediately halt the license distribution process. 

    CAC-N said allowing such industries to operate is troubling and has called for a reversal of the decision, stating that it benefits only a few industrialists.

  • Nepal Goes All-In on Health Packaging

    Nepal Goes All-In on Health Packaging

    The Global Tobacco Treaty (formally called the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or WHO FCTC) called on governments to implement strong pictorial health warnings to “help save lives from deadly tobacco.” Nepal took that to heart, announcing that beginning August 17, all cigarette packs will be required to have 100% pictorial health warnings on both the front and back of the packaging.

    Since 2014, Nepal had 90% graphic health warnings on both sides of its packaging, the most in the world behind only Timor-Leste and Turkiye, which both had 85% coverage on the front and 100% on the back. In August Nepal will move to No. 1.

    “Nepal has set a global benchmark by adopting 100% pictorial health warnings on tobacco packaging,” said Dr. Tara Singh Bam, Asia Pacific Director (Tobacco Control) Vital Strategies. “This policy is a powerful tool to prevent smoking among youth and children, encourage tobacco users to quit, and raise public awareness about the dangers of tobacco use. It is a highly cost-effective intervention that not only saves lives and reduces healthcare costs, but also helps to denormalize tobacco in our communities. This remarkable achievement is a testament to the strong political commitment and timely actions of the Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal.”

  • Nepali Lawmaker Uncovers Privatization ‘Plot’

    Nepali Lawmaker Uncovers Privatization ‘Plot’

    Scandalously scheming (Photo: Taco Tuinstra)

    A Nepali lawmaker has uncovered “a plot” to privatize the Janakpur Cigarette Factory, reports The Rising Nepal.

    Bimalendra Nidhi, a senior leader of the Nepali Congress party, said that while government officials had informed him that they were in the process of renewing the company’s license, he had heard rumors that the factory was in fact being prepared for privatization.

    Nidhi reminded reporters that the Janakpur Cigarette Factory is the property of Madhes Province and that his party would protest any plans for privatization because it would contravene the principle of federalism.