COMMENTARY
INTERVIEW
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Anti-tobacco campaigners boycott advertising meet

Anti-tobacco campaigners boycotted a meeting of the Advertising Standards Council of India, held in Bombay on December 1, which was trying to push voluntary code for advertisement of tobacco products, under pressure from the tobacco industry in the country.

Participation would be tantamount to endorsing the voluntary code, declared Dr Sharad Vaidya, chairman, National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication.

The protesters say that the voluntary code on tobacco promotion proposed by the council should be rejected outright as it was crude and pointless piece of trickery. It is an attempt to stall the banning of tobacco advertising as proposed in the amendment of the Cigarette Act bill, which was slated to come up before Parliament.

Various states are preparing to pass legislation against advertisement of tobacco products and public smoking. The move by the tobacco industry is a sign of desperation to influence the state government of Goa to go slow on its legislation, said Vaidya.

Delhi and Himachal Pradesh have already passed legislation against tobacco advertisement and the Goa bill is awaiting assent, Vaidya said.

Adoption of the Council's voluntary code for the tobacco industry will be a dangerous trend and set back to the total banning of the tobacco industry advertisements in the country, stated Vaidya.

This proposal seeks to create division within the anti-tobacco movement with some accepting the voluntary code and others rejecting it. Such division would help the tobacco industry to lobby against an advertising ban with the government, Vaidya said in a statement in Goa.

UNI