Media reports suggest at least 10 people have died from suspected heatstroke in different districts during the ongoing heatwave, the longest on record
Pictorial warning on packs: Tobacco companies not complying
Despite a government directive, almost none of the tobacco companies have implemented the mandatory display of pictorial warnings on their packs, alleges an anti-tobacco organisation.
Published : 19 March 2016, 10:30 AM
Updated : 19 March 2016, 01:25 PM
The National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) last year issued a public circular that set Mar 19 this year as the deadline for starting the display on the packs.
In a new law in 2013, the Bangladesh government made it mandatory for tobacco companies to print graphic pictorial warnings covering the upper half of each tobacco pack.
Though the deadline expires on Saturday, the tobacco companies have yet to comply with the directive, said a spokesperson of an anti-tobacco group named 'Progga'.
“Except on some Zarda (tobacco flakes) cans, the pictorial warnings were not found on the packs of any other tobacco products today [Saturday],” the spokesperson told bdnews24.com.
Contacted, NTCC Coordinator Mohammad Ruhul Quddus said, “Mobile courts will now be launched to see if anyone is flouting the law.”
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