Court rules 50-60% of pack for pictorial warning, not 80%
Tuesday, 13 May 2014 00:25
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The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that between 50-60% of printable areas on cigarette packs must have pictorial warnings depicting the risk of smoking.
The ruling fell short of the Ministry of Health’s decision to order 80% of the pack to carry the proposed health warnings.
The Appeal Court gave the 50-60% ruling whilst dismissing the petition filed by Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) challenging the Government’s special gazette notification on 8 August, 2012 requiring the manufacturer to cover 80% of the surface of the cigarette packet with graphic warnings.
Parliament passed three regulations under the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act on 19 February this year to discourage the smoking. However, the implementation of the legislation was delayed due to the lawsuit.
The Health Ministry says that 60 to 65 people die daily due to illnesses related to smoking and 27% of its annual budget allocation has to be spent on the treatments for patients suffering from illnesses caused by tobacco use.
