The BNP government amended at least two laws in ways that could further promote the production and use of tobacco products despite pledging tobacco control in its election manifesto, said anti-tobacco campaigners.
The ban on the production and use of e-cigarettes was lifted, while the provision that barred tobacco cultivation on triple-crop or other high-yielding agricultural land was lifted.
These legal changes are fully contradictory to the BNP’s election manifestos, said Hossain Zillur Rahman, a former adviser to a caretaker government.
“The party has spoken of protecting the younger generation and strengthening tobacco control. But weakening tobacco control laws will first and foremost harm young people, particularly new smokers,” he told The Daily Star on April 19.
Ziauddin Hyder, an adviser to BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman, however, does not think the steps contradict their manifesto.
“BNP is committed to control or prevent the misuse of tobacco products,” said Hyder, a member of a government cell formed to implement the BNP manifesto.
Amid growing demands from anti-tobacco campaigners, the interim government in January last year banned the import of e-cigarettes, or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), to protect public health.
Later on December 23, an ordinance was approved expanding the definition of tobacco products in the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Act and introducing several new provisions to regulate their use.
Section 6 (Ga) of the ordinance says no person shall produce, import, export, store, advertise, promote, endorse, market, distribute, buy, sell or transport their components or parts (such as e-cigarettes, vapes, vaping devices, vaporisers, e-liquids, etc.), heated tobacco products, or emerging tobacco products, whatever name they may be called, nor shall they cause or allow anyone else to do so.
An offender may face imprisonment for up to three months or a fine of up to Tk 2 lakh or both.
If a person commits the same type of offence a second time or repeatedly, the penalty shall be imposed at double the rate progressively.
Any person may face a fine of up to Tk 5,000 for using any of these products.
An e‑cigarette (electronic cigarette) is a battery-operated device that heats a liquid -- usually containing nicotine and other chemicals -- to produce a vapour that can be inhaled by a user, an act known as ‘vaping’.
However, following recommendations from a parliamentary special committee formed to review 133 ordinances issued during the interim government, the health ministry dropped the entire provision from the ordinance before placing it before the parliament.
After the move became public, various anti-tobacco organisations urged the government to reconsider the decision.
As many as 41 countries, including India, have banned e-cigarettes for their adverse health impact.
Representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF in Bangladesh jointly wrote to the health ministry on April 9 expressing deep concern over reports that the ban on the import, production, distribution and use of e-cigarettes might be withdrawn and called for maintaining the ban.
They said that e-cigarettes are aggressively marketed to young people through flavoured products and targeted promotion, raising concerns about creating a new generation dependent on nicotine.
Nicotine is highly addictive and particularly harmful to children and adolescents, affecting brain development and increasing the risk of long-term cognitive and mental health consequences.
WHO does not recommend e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool, they said.
Bangladesh already faces a significant tobacco burden, with more than 1,30,000 deaths a year related to tobacco use, and substantial economic and social costs.
“Introducing or expanding access to new nicotine products risks compounding this burden,” reads the letter.
The parliament, however, passed the act lifting the ban and a gazette was issued on April 10.
Separately, in January, the interim government enacted the Land Use Control and Agricultural Land Protection Ordinance to regulate land use and safeguard agricultural land.
Section 7(5) of the ordinance says tobacco cultivation that undermines food security will not be allowed on triple-crop or higher-yield agricultural land, and it must also be gradually restricted on single- and double-crop farmland.
However, this provision was dropped when the amended act was approved earlier this month.
In its election manifesto, the BNP outlined 22 health-related commitments, including controlling tobacco-related non-communicable diseases.
Emphasis will be placed on controlling non-communicable diseases caused by tobacco use (such as cancer, stroke, heart disease, lung disorders, etc.) to protect public health, and necessary legal measures and other initiatives will be undertaken to regulate tobacco use, read the BNP manifesto.
“This is a step backwards. What signal does this send? It suggests the emergence of an unethical, backdoor influence in policymaking,” said Hossain Zillur Rahman, also the executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre, which does tobacco control advocacy.
None is calling for the elimination of the tobacco industry overnight or for tobacco cultivation to stop immediately.
But tobacco has a significant negative impact on public health, particularly on the younger generation.
“In this context, we need to take steps through both legal measures and taxation to control tobacco use.”
These changes can still be reversed, and the government should do so, he added.
“I think the restriction [on e-cigarette] for research has been lifted -- it is not for mass marketing of e-cigarette,” Hyder said.
When the correspondent said the entire section has been dropped, he said that if someone wants to conduct research to see how harmful it is, they should be able to do so.
“If it is banned, then no form of research or knowledge generation is possible. That is why the ban has been withdrawn. It does not mean that the door has been opened for e-cigarette marketing.”
Asked about the apprehension that tobacco cultivation will increase after the dropping of the ban on tobacco cultivation on triple-crop land, he said: “This is not about encouraging tobacco cultivation.”
“Our country is overly regulated. Why is so much regulation needed? Leave it to the farmers. If they can make a profit, what is your problem? If it reduces soil fertility or decreases income, the farmers themselves will stop producing tobacco. Then why is regulation needed?”
Tobacco will enter the market anyway and it is not possible to control it through law alone unless people’s behaviour changes.
What is needed is massive campaigns promoting healthy lifestyles and the negative effects of tobacco, Hyder said, adding that they would do that.
