Supposedly it is because the economic recession and the warnings would be too much for the tobacco industry. A sad example of the industry's political muscle when India is going to host the next World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Mumbai in March 2009.
Source: The Times of India
Recession stubs out tobacco warnings! - The Times of India
November 26, 2008
In a move that is bound to attract the ire of anti-smoking activists, government has decided to put off the directive to have pictorial warnings on cigarette and bidi packs from December 1 to May 31 next year.
The quiet, unannounced decision was taken by a group of ministers (GoM) headed by foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday and is seen as being driven by the market recession which could get worse for cigarette manufacturers if graphic warnings were to become mandatory. This led the pictorial warnings being put off for the fifth time in two years.
The tobacco lobby has a strong political presence at the Centre and in states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Fears that hurting the tobacco business when general elections are not too far away could have also been a factor in the GoM's sudden decision. The move to make pictorial warnings compulsory has been bitterly opposed even though it is the norm in some western countries.
The meeting held that despite the earlier decision not to go into the matter again, the deadline would be moved again. Manufacturers were to prominently display a skull-and-bones sign, a warning saying `tobacco and smoking kills' along with images meant to dissuade smokers.
Health minister A Ramadoss has been at loggerheads with his Cabinet colleagues for a long while to get the scary pictures planted on cigarette packets. But worries over slowdown and impending elections seem to have weighed against him in the decision by the GoM to postpone implementation of the move.
Earlier, the anti-tobacco lobby had won a hard-fought victory in the Supreme Court when it upheld the law against smoking in designated public spaces including work places, restaurants and bars. The SC order had been a shot in the arm for Ramadoss. The GoM's decision will be opposed by activists who claim that the government is backing off on a public health issue.
Source: The Times of India
November 26, 2008
In a move that is bound to attract the ire of anti-smoking activists, government has decided to put off the directive to have pictorial warnings on cigarette and bidi packs from December 1 to May 31 next year.
The quiet, unannounced decision was taken by a group of ministers (GoM) headed by foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday and is seen as being driven by the market recession which could get worse for cigarette manufacturers if graphic warnings were to become mandatory. This led the pictorial warnings being put off for the fifth time in two years.
The tobacco lobby has a strong political presence at the Centre and in states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Fears that hurting the tobacco business when general elections are not too far away could have also been a factor in the GoM's sudden decision. The move to make pictorial warnings compulsory has been bitterly opposed even though it is the norm in some western countries.
The meeting held that despite the earlier decision not to go into the matter again, the deadline would be moved again. Manufacturers were to prominently display a skull-and-bones sign, a warning saying `tobacco and smoking kills' along with images meant to dissuade smokers.
Health minister A Ramadoss has been at loggerheads with his Cabinet colleagues for a long while to get the scary pictures planted on cigarette packets. But worries over slowdown and impending elections seem to have weighed against him in the decision by the GoM to postpone implementation of the move.
Earlier, the anti-tobacco lobby had won a hard-fought victory in the Supreme Court when it upheld the law against smoking in designated public spaces including work places, restaurants and bars. The SC order had been a shot in the arm for Ramadoss. The GoM's decision will be opposed by activists who claim that the government is backing off on a public health issue.
Source: The Times of India
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