The government will lose a huge amount of revenue if the draft of the Tobacco Control Act (2nd Amendment) is implemented, speakers warned at a policy dialogue.
Moreover, the sustainable annual revenue of around Tk40,000 crore earned from the tobacco industry will be threatened and export earnings from exporting tobacco leaves and nicotine extract will also be hampered.
Experts, businessmen, academics, and journalists were talking about the draft of the new amendments to the tobacco control laws in a policy dialogue organized by the Intellectual Property Association of Bangladesh (IPAB) in the capital on Wednesday.
Speakers also said that the policymakers did not consult representatives and associations in this sector when preparing these amendments, which resulted in an unrealistic set of provisions.
The Ministry of Health took the feedback from stakeholders when the law was amended last time, and there is no reason to not do the same this time, speakers said.
The 2005 tobacco control law was first amended in 2013 and finalized in 2015. The new amendments propose a number of drastic measures, which speakers said were unimplementable and counterproductive.
These include eliminating smoking zones, banning corporate social responsibility activity by tobacco companies, banning the e-cigarette, separating license requirements for selling tobacco products, banning sales of tobacco products by mobile vendors, and banning loose cigarettes.
Stakeholders believe these changes in the law can’t be practically implemented and will severely impact stakeholders.
Dr M Harunur Rashid, former professor of Dhaka University, and Barrister Shahedul Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi Axiata, presented the keynote paper at the dialogue.
They said that approximately 7 million people involved in the tobacco sector, which includes a large number of low and middle-income businessmen, will be negatively impacted if the new changes are incorporated.
It will also increase the injection of illicit tobacco products and cause livelihood harm for small businessmen, hawkers and tea stall owners if the draft is passed.
It will also threaten foreign investment and revenue generation, ultimately harming the country’s economy, which is particularly concerning given the current global economic environment, the speakers said.
Moreover, CSR is an ethical structure for the corporate sector. Any company that makes a profit has a responsibility toward society.
The new amendment to ban CSR programmes of the tobacco company will put an impact on the achievement of the SDGs, they said.
The banning on the sale of loose cigarettes will rather increase the health risk as consumers will end up consuming more than their regular cigarette consumption, they added.
The keynote presenters also said, since tobacco is not an illegal product, the government should regulate it.
They also said that law enforcement must be coordinated with economic activity. It should be ensured that the tax earned from the industrial sector is spent on the development of the country.
Lack of clarity in the new proposed amendments will result in abuse of the law. These will also create room for counterfeit products, the speakers said.
IPAB President Shamsul Alam Mallick presided over the dialogue while IPAB Director General Md Azizur Rahman moderated the event.
TIM Nurul Kabir, executive director of Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI); Deep Azad, secretary general of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ); Nazrul Islam Mithu, president of Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU); SM Rashidul Islam, general secretary of Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF), were also present among others.
