Finally, tobacco products to carry pictorial health warnings from 31 May

06 May 2009

After repeated delays, displaying of statutory pictorial and health warnings on tobacco products will finally come into effect from 31 May, the government gave the assurance to the Supreme Court today, which passed an interim order till further hearing of the case.

The assurance was given by the additional solicitor general Gopal Subramanium to a Supreme Court bench based on a petition filed by an NGO 'Health for Millions' asking the court to direct the government to enforce its own 2006 rule of forcing tobacco companies to display pictorial warnings on all tobacco products.

Pictorial warnings on tobacco products are intended to increase consumer knowledge of the deadly health effects of tobacco consumption, to encourage cessation and to discourage uptake.

But the government, in its reply to a query filed under the Right to Information Act, admitted that due to the pressure exerted by the bidi industry and other interested parties, the group of ministers (GoM) constituted to look into the matter had recommended that the graphic pictorial warnings to be displayed on 50 per cent of both sides of a cigarette packets be reduced to 40 per cent and only on one side. (See: Government caves in to pressure on pictorial warnings from bidi makers lobby)

NGO Health for Millions counsel Indira Jaisingh had argued in the court that the government had originally wanted to display a skull-and-crossbone image on all tobacco products, which has now been diluted to depicting less dire X-ray images of lungs and the image of a scorpion. (See: Government dithers on implementing health warnings on tobacco products)

Pictorial warnings of the skull-and-crossbone image on tobacco products are intended to enlighten the smoker of the harmful effects of tobacco. With India having so many languages, this image breaks all linguistic barriers.