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 India
steps up fight against Big Tobacco over health warnings
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[April 05, 2016]
By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's health
ministry on Tuesday ordered government agencies to enforce a new rule
for bigger health warnings on tobacco packets, stepping up a fight
against the $10 billion cigarette industry that has shut down its
factories in protest.
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 The government wants manufacturers to cover 85 percent of a
cigarette pack's surface in health warnings, up from 20 percent now.
But ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, and Godfrey
Phillips, partner of U.S.-based Philip Morris International, have
opposed the measure, saying a parliament panel had suggested the
health warning to be half the cigarette pack's size.
K.C. Samria, a joint secretary in the health ministry, on Monday
sought support of several other ministries, including foreign
affairs and revenue department, to ensure strict implementation of
the new rules, letters seen by Reuters showed.
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(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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