Furore as secretary meets tobacco bosses

Anti-tobacco groups have expressed ‘concern’ over a Secretary of the Ministry of Law meeting tobacco industry leaders.

Progga – Knowledge for Progress, Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), US-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) and Dhaka Ahsania Mission said the meeting violated a legally binding WHO treaty that Bangladesh has ratified, describing the infraction as an ‘ominous sign’.

It can frustrate the tobacco control efforts of Bangladesh, where, WHO estimates, 57,000 people die of tobacco-related illnesses each year.

Secretary (Legislative) Md Shahidul Haque held the meetings on Wednesday at the Secretariat even as the rules of the new tobacco-control law were being vetted by him.

He had invited the representatives of the Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers Association and Bangladesh Bidi Industry Owners Association through a letter, a copy of which is with bdnews24.com.

The law was passed on Apr 29 last year. But some of its provisions needed rules to facilitate implementation.

The WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC), ratified by Bangladesh in 2004, says policymakers would not discuss policy matters with tobacco industry.

“Parties should interact with the tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary to enable them to effectively regulate the tobacco industry and tobacco products,” reads the FCTC’s Article 5.3.

It added: “Where interactions with the tobacco industry are necessary, parties should ensure that such interactions are conducted transparently.

“Whenever possible, interactions should be conducted in public, for example through public hearings, public notice of interactions, disclosure of records of such interactions to the public”.

Dhaka Ahsania Mission’s assistant director Iqbal Masud told bdnews24.com that they had faxed a “strongly worded” letter to the Secretary on Wednesday morning after learning of the meeting.

Progga and ATMA said in a joint statement they had met the officials of the Secretary’s office on Wednesday and were assured that the meeting would not be held.

“But we find it was held at 4pm, one hour later than its earlier schedule. It’s an ominous sign,” it said.

The Secretary could not be contacted for comments either at his office or over his personal mobile phone. He did not reply to a bdnews24.com SMS either.

Industries were lobbying hard since the passing of the law to delay a key provision making it mandatory to print pictorial health warnings covering 50 percent of both sides of a packet.

bdnews24.com had earlier reported that industry representatives had met the Secretary for health before the provision was finalised, provoking a backlash from anti-tobacco campaigners.

CTFK Coordinator Taifur Rahman is also concerned. “This will only welcome tobacco industry influence”.

“It's pity that the law ministry is unaware of a treaty Bangladesh had signed”.

He said it was not the law ministry’s job to discuss the matter. “The health ministry, the ministry concerned, formulated the rules after extensive discussions with all except the tobacco industry".

A health ministry official attached to a relevant desk also expressed surprise.

“Such a meeting is irrelevant. It will only delay the rules needed to implement the law (tobacco control law)”.

Apart from deaths, WHO estimates nearly 300,000 people suffer disabilities in Bangladesh every year with over 43 percent people, aged 15 and above, consume tobacco in some form or the other.