85% pictorial warnings on packets of tobacco products

The Centre has set May 31 deadline for the States and Union Territories to withdraw from the market tobacco products whose 85% packaging space is not covered with pictorial warning. It has also requested the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories to take steps for strict enforcement of the new rules on pictorial warnings.

Background:

The Pictorial Warning Rules under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA) 2003 had come into force from April 1, 2016. It prescribed larger pictorial petitions, covering 85% of the size of the packets of tobacco products, including cigarettes and beedis.

The Supreme Court too, in May 2016, had directed all tobacco companies to implement the rule mandating 85% pictorial warnings on packets of tobacco products.