Chennai
A city-based NGO brought to the attention of this newspaper, an act of violation by the manufacturers of a brand of snuff powder who had allegedly been using an outdated pictorial warning on its packages, for three years now.
Cyril Alexander, the State Convener of Tamil Nadu People for Tobacco Control (TNPFTC), says, “The makers of DS Snuff Powder still use the Pictorial Health Warning that was specified for tobacco products in 2003.
It’s an illustration of a scorpion (symbolic of cancer) coupled with a warning in Tamil and English that says tobacco causes cancer/kills.” He goes on to say, “The latest pictorial health warning for non-smoking tobacco products, as per G.S.R.724 (E) of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), came into effect on April 1, 2013.
The rule clearly states that manufacturers of chewable or smokeless forms of tobacco need to include a graphic image of the damage caused by tobacco on the packaging. None of the packs of DS Snuff powder available in the market feature this mandated pictorial warning.”
Cyril mentions that the company has also been found violating the rules concerning the advertising of tobacco products. “Several small shops in the city and across the state have been found carrying ads of DS Pattanam Podi as banners, or have them painted on the walls or shutters of their premises.
We have approached the State Tobacco Control Cell, of the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, in Chennai and have asked them to seize all the products that are in violation of the COTPA rules.”
Jayanti Premkumar, the daughter of Kovil Pillai, one of the proprietors of the Dhanavilas Madras Snuff Co, that makes this product, said, “We were unaware of shopkeepers carrying any ads of our product. We will ensure that the necessary action is taken to remedy the same and adhere to the law.”
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