Imported cigarette packs must carry pictorial warning: Govt

India on Saturday made it mandatory for imported cigarettes and other tobacco products to carry pictorial warnings on the packs.

India on Saturday made it mandatory for imported cigarettes and other tobacco products to carry pictorial warnings on the packs.

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Import of cigarette or any other tobacco product shall be subject to the rules making it mandatory to carry pictorial warnings on the packets against tobacco consumption, according to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

However, industry and government sources said the import of cigarettes and tobacco products is very minimal and whatever comes into the country is either through smuggling or through duty-free shops.

From May 31 this year, companies manufacturing and marketing cigarettes and tobacco products in India are mandated to carry pictorial warnings on the front of the pack.

As per the rules, the tobacco products will have to clearly display a scorpion and lungs as pictorial warnings which should cover at least 40 per cent of the principal display area of the packets in a bid to discourage their consumption.

India has signed and ratified the WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The WHO-FCTC mandates that all the signatory countries should display pictorial health warnings on the pack of tobacco products.