Saturday, 25 January 2014 00:00
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By Ashwin Hemmathagama
Our Lobby Correspondent
The controversial warnings proposed to discourage the use of cigarettes and other tobacco products were presented to the Parliament yesterday.
The new regulations have made it essential to print the pictorial warnings, which illustrate cancer patients, children in incentive care units, and a few dead bodies – all caused by smoking – on the top surface area of both front and back sides of every cigarette packet, package or carton containing cigarette on an area not less than 80%.
Apart from these pictorial warnings, the Government expects each packet, package, carton or label to mention the percentage of nicotine and tar found in each cigarette, the year of production, and the date of expiry.
Not exempting the tobacco and cigarette importers, the new warnings are to be pasted on imported products in the form of a sticker, which complies with the regulations.
These new regulations were made by the Minister of Health under Section 30 read with Section 34 of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Authority Act No.27 of 2006 and published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 1170/15 of 8 August 2012, Gazette Extraordinary No. 1783/16 of 8 November 2012, and Gazette Extraordinary no.1797/22 of 15 February 2013.
