Cigarette, tobacco packs to come with NEW warnings from December 1

New Delhi: By amending the Cigarettes & other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules, 2008, the Indian government announced new sets of specific health warnings for all tobacco product packets on Friday. The modified regulations will be in place from December 1, 2022.

According to the regulations, the new, precise health warnings must be:

Image-1, which will be in effect starting on December 1, 2022, will be valid for a duration of one year.

Image-2  It will be in effect from December 1, 2023.

The government also noted that the websites www.mohfw.gov.in and ntcp.nhp.gov.in both have the aforementioned notification as well as a soft or printable form of the stated health warnings in 19 languages.

Additionally, the government mandated that all tobacco products manufactured, imported, or packaged on or after December 1, 2022, show Image 1 with the textual Health Warning "TOBACCO CAUSES PAINFUL DEATH" and Image 2, with the textual Health Warning "TOBACCO USERS DIE YOUNGER".

According to the government, anyone involved directly or indirectly in the manufacture, production, supply, import, or distribution of cigarettes or any other tobacco products must make sure that every box of tobacco goods bears the required health warnings.

"Violation of the above-mentioned provision is a punishable offence with imprisonment or fine as prescribed in Section 20 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003," it further added.