CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has decided to ban the production, stocking, distribution and sale of tobacco products such as gutka and pan masala in the state. The decision came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's remarks in a case recently, seeking to know the action taken by state governments in curbing the use of tobacco and its products. The order will be passed in a week, said official sources.
Tamil Nadu last banned tobacco products in 2001 under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra also issued similar notifications then. However, the tobacco industry went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the Centre alone had the powers to issue such notifications.
However, since the implementation of the
Food Safety and Standards of India Act, 2006, and notification of its rules and regulations in August 2011, it is now possible to implement such a ban within the provisions of the new law. A senior health department official said that as per the act, tobacco and nicotine are injurious to health and should not be used in food products.
Madhya Pradesh was the first to implement the ban since the new law came into effect and subsequently Kerala, Mizoram, Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Delhi also banned gutka and pan masala.
Chief minister J Jayalalithaa told the sate assembly on Wednesday that her government had constituted a separate food safety and drug administration department after the Centre notified the act. "In order to prevent various cancers cased by tobacco, the government has decided to ban such products," she said. Betel nuts and pan masala without tobacco will not come under the ban.
The 'Global Adult Tobacco Survey India' released by the Union
ministry of health and family welfare shows that about 16.2% of Tamil Nadu's population uses tobacco in one form or the other. In Chennai alone, the incidence of mouth cancer has gone up by 20% in the last two decades, say health professionals.
However, a ban will prove useless if there is no effective crackdown. Following the 2001 ban, raids on traders didn't prevent sale of the products as the business just went underground. Also, shortage of field level staff made implementation difficult.
According to sources, officials of the
state food safety wing and the
tobacco control cell will implement the ban. Food safety wing commissioner Kumar Jayant said the government will ensure that the ban is implemented strictly.
Tamil Nadu says ‘no’ to chewable tobacco
Tamil Nadu takes recourse to the Food Safety and Standards Act to ban tobacco products this time
Tamil Nadu has finally said no to all chewable forms of tobacco. With this, 30 States in the country have officially banned the cancer-causing substance.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday announced on the floor of the House a complete ban on the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of all forms of chewable tobacco – particularly pan masala and gutka.
The announcement had the anti-tobacco group in the State cheering wildly. “We have been asking for this for ages. In fact, I made a representation to the Planning Commission to consider this seriously. And today we are happy to see it implemented in Tamil Nadu finally,” says S.Shanta, chairperson, Adyar Cancer Institute. The campaigners against tobacco in the country were concerned about Tamil Nadu being among the larger States not to ban chewable forms of tobacco. “It is a very welcome move,” says P.C.Gupta. He says this will help a great deal in preventing movement of tobacco (chewable) products across States. “Karnataka is the only State in the South yet to implement the ban, and we hope that the gap will be filled as well,” he adds.
According to activists who have been campaigning against the sale of tobacco products, chewable or smoking, the turnaround came with the Supreme Court ruling in the Godawat Pan Masala case that since pan masala, gutka or supari are eaten for taste and nourishment, they are all food within the meaning of Section 2(v) of the (Prevention of Food Adulteration) Act. Subsequently, with the Food Safety and Standards Act coming into force, the sale of pan masala and gutka were taken over by that law.
The ban will be now implemented under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, which specifically states that no food product should contain tobacco and nicotine as ingredients. Besides running the risk of having their products seized by officials, offenders can face between six months to three years in jail, say sources. Officials in the State say that the implementation will be done jointly by the office of the Food Commissioner and the State Tobacco Control Cell.
A detailed government order explaining the role of different agencies in implementation of the ban is awaited.
Ban on gutka, pan masala back
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday announced that the government headed by her had decided to ban the production, stocking, distribution and sale of tobacco products like gutka and pan masala, with a view to preventing the different forms of cancer caused due to consumption of these items.
Making a suo motu statement in the State Assembly, the Chief Minister recalled that her government had on November 19, 2011 banned the sale of gutka and pan masala for a period of five years under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
However, the Supreme Court, while hearing the case relating to this ban had cancelled the notification issued by the Tamil Nadu government and some other States. The SC had said that the powers to ban such goods lay only with the Central Government.
Later, the Central government had enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act in 2006 and the legislation came into force from August 5, 2011 across the country.
To implement this Act, the Tamil Nadu government too had created the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department.
As per the rules of the Food Safety and Quality Management, tobacco and nicotine should not be added to any of the food items.
Further, during the hearing of a case on May 3, the SC had wanted to know the action taken by the State government to ban tobacco products.
Leaders of various political parties in the State Assembly hailed the initiative of the Chief Minister.
CPI member S Gunasekaran suggested that the Goondas Act should be invoked against those selling gutka and pan masala.
