Health Warning on Tobacco Product

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Health Warnings on Tobacco Products The WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to which India is a party, recommends under Article 11 to adopt effective legal measures to ensure that each unit or package of tobacco product carry health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use.

report provides

implementation of pictorial health warnings by ranking 198 countries based on warning size (average of front and back

current specification

warnings (40% of the principal display area of the front panel) is as per the directions of the Group of Ministers (GoM), which was constituted on the issue.

The FCTC recommends that pack warnings should (i) be approved by competent authority (ii) shall be rotating (iii) shall be large, clear, visible and legible(iv) should be 50% or more of the principal display areas but shall be no less than 30% of the principal display areas, (v) may be in the form of or include pictures or pictograms.

Tobacco product packaging and labelling shall be in such a manner that it does not promote a tobacco product by any means that are false, misleading, deceptive or likely to

erroneous

health effects, hazards or emissions. It prohibits the use of terms like “low tar”, “light”, “ultra-light”, or “mild”.

The current Rules relating

health warnings on tobacco product packages is compliant

of the

(Packaging and labeling of tobacco products) of WHO FCTC and the guidelines framed thereunder.

The Government has not taken any decision so far on the issue of changing the ratio of specification of the pictorial health warning vis-a-vis the principal display area of the tobacco product packs.