A legal notice has been served to the concerned authorities to ban the production, import, marketing, sale, advertising and use of e-cigarettes in Bangladesh.
The legal notice has been sent to secretaries of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Commerce.
Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Mohammad Humayun Kabir sent the legal notice on behalf of human rights organization Law and Life Foundation Trust on Monday.
The notice said that at least 47 countries including Brazil, Singapore, China, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Argentina, Bhutan, India have already banned the production, marketing and use of e-cigarettes as per the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
If necessary action is not taken within seven days of receiving the notice, a case will be filed in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in public interest and directions will be sought to stop e-cigarettes, said the legal notice.
At the same time, social media Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and online companies like Daraz have been requested to stop commercializing e-cigarettes.
