Issue licenses to retailers that sell tobacco products: MOHFW

Shops permitted to sell tobacco products cannot sell non-tobacco products such as toffees, candies, chips, biscuits, soft drinks, among others, which are meant for the non-users, especially children.

Hyderabad: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has recently issued an advisory to State governments recommending licensing of tobacco vendors through municipal authorities.

The advisory has observed that it would be appropriate to include in the authorization a condition or a provision that shops permitted to sell tobacco products cannot sell non-tobacco products such as toffees, candies, chips, biscuits, soft drinks, among others, which are meant for the non-users, especially children.

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The advisory to issue licensing comes in the wake of a recent report titled ‘Framework for Implementation of Tobacco Vendor Licensing in India’ released by Consumer Law and Practice, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), which had proposed that all retailers and wholesalers should have a license to sell tobacco products.

“The NLSU report has recommended a model legal framework for sale of tobacco products and we hope that state and municipal governments will consider these recommendations to safeguard Indians especially children and youth from these killer products,” Prof Ashok R. Patil, Professor of Law/Research Head, NLSIU, the Chair on Consumer Law and Practice, Bengaluru, in a press release said.

Senior surgical oncologist from Yashoda Hospitals, Dr. K Sreekanth, said that it was important to make tobacco products inaccessible to adolescents. “Regulating the sale, marketing, and use of these addictive products is critical to check the tobacco epidemic in India, especially during these challenging times,” he said.

 

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