The lopsided argument for banning bidis

Even though the decision to shut down cheap bidi within two years is good in terms of public health, experts feel it would be unfair and unethical to move forward with the decision when imported cigarettes continue to flood the markets. Bidi is a type of cheap, local cigarette made of unprocessed tobacco wrapped in leaves. “We are aiming to remove bidi from Bangladesh within two years,” said Finance Minister AMA Muhith on April 10, after a meeting with the chiefs of parliamentary standing committees in Dhaka. On March 30, Muhith took the stance that bidi was “very dangerous to public health”, and has since been in favour of a complete ban on it. However, such a ban seems far from possible, at least for now, since there are strong lobbyists behind the industry. “What is unexpected is that the minister wants to shut down only bidi factories and not those producing cigarettes. If the industry is suddenly shut down, about two million bidi workers will become unemployed and will stage tough protests,” Bangladesh Bidi Shilpa Malik Samity President Bijoy Krishan Dey told the Dhaka Tribune. In the 2016-2017 proposed national budget, prices of the lowest segment of cigarettes were increased by 28% to Tk23. Taxes on medium and high-segment cigarettes remained unchanged, but the supplementary duty was hiked from 61% and 63% to 62% to 64%, respectively. Many argue that the decision is tantamount to favouring the import industry over a local industry. When questioned about this, former NBR chairman Abdul Majid said: “If the government decides to shut down bidi for health then all smoking products including foreign cigarettes should be banned. “If the finance minister takes this decision, he also has to propose an alternative source of income for the people involved in this industry.” The Bangladesh Bidi Shilpa Malik Samity President Bijoy said: “We pay a 16% VAT. This will affect our revenue generation immensely. He needs to consider what a huge financial support the industry is for our economic sector.” Executive Director of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) Dr Ahsan H Mansur, however, disagreed. “It is a good decision on the part of the government to ban bidi products. There will be no impact on revenues if the ban is put in place,” said Ahsan, adding: “We get only Tk4 or Tk5 crore as revenue from bidi products. But the government ends up losing more money in health sector expenditure than the revenue being earned through this industry.” Dr Md Mafizur Rahman, associate professor of National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICR&H), weighed in, saying: “Bidi and cigarettes are both harmful. Our research shows that all tobacco related products are detrimental to health. “According to previous data, some 62%-70% patients who have been afflicted by cancer in their mouths and lungs have been smokers,” he added. Mafizur further explained: “We cannot tell whether bidi is more harmful than cigarettes, but we can say that both are noxious.”