Tk 300 fine for public smoking

Smokers in public place will be slapped with Tk 300 in fines and industries will print pictorial health warning covering half of both sides of the tobacco pack from now on as Parliament passed a ‘tough’ law on Monday, ending nearly four years of dawdling.

The revised 2005 tobacco control law also bans activities of the tobacco industries under the guise of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) and advertise directly and indirectly – some provisions that anti-tobacco campaigners have long been demanding.

The law has also recognised smokeless products like zarda and gul as tobacco products and widened the definition of public places including parks, restaurants and private organisations.

Campaigners have hailed the law but were critical of allowing designated smoking zone in public places, a provision that they say is contrary to the WHO’s Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The government has formulated the law in light of the FCTC that it ratified long before.

“It (new law) also has implementation challenge in that any law-enforcing agency will not be able to impose the fine. There will be some designated authorities like Upazilla administrator (UNO) and Upazilla health officer,” said Iqbal Masud, an Assistant Director of Dhaka Ahsania Mission.

“Even police will not be able to fine under the law and anyone agitated cannot file case under the law,” Masud, who was a member of the law revision committee, told bdnews24.com in his immediate reaction.

The law has been passed by voice votes after Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque placed it in Parliament on Mar 4, a long 190 days after the Cabinet approved the draft.

It was sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for scrutiny.

The ministry started the process of amending the law in Jun 2009, nearly six months after the incumbent government took office.

A study has showed with 43.3 percent adults smoking or chewing tobacco, Bangladesh is one of the cheapest sources of tobacco products in the world.

Tobacco kills 57,000 people in Bangladesh while affecting more than 350,000 people with various ailments.