BANGALORE: Despite a ban on the advertisement of cigarettes and other tobacco products by the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA), city officials’ opinion remains divided on what form of advertising is allowed.A number of vendors and tobacco (paan) shops in the city have storefront signs advertising a cigarette brand.The composition of the signboard makes the cigarette brand the primary focus with the name of the shop printed somewhere at the bottom or in the corner.Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which is the primary enforcer of COTPA believes that these storefront signs are a violation of the act and that they need to be pulled down.“Serious action needs to be taken against this form of advertising at shops where cigarette and other tobacco products are sold” says Devaki Umesh, Chief Health Officer, BBMP.While the Palike believes these advertisements are illegal, Dr Upendra Bhojani, Faculty, Institute of Public Health, said that certain forms of advertising are allowed under COTPA.“This form of advertising is called ‘point-of-sale advertising’, which is allowed.There is a ban on advertisements in buildings, walls, hoardings, frame, posts or any such structures under sub-section 5 of COTPA.But it also clarifies that this subsection of the Act is not applicable in cases of advertisement in or on packages containing cigarettes and other tobacco products and advertisements displayed at the entrance or inside a warehouse or a shop where cigarettes and any other tobacco products are sold.However, Dr Bhojani asserts that even point of sale advertising has a restriction on the size of the board.The size of the board used for advertisement at the entrance of a shop cannot exceed 90 cms by 60 cms and only two of those boards are allowed.“There are shops with advertisement material all over them which is unacceptable.Also, some of the shops display cigarette packets in a glass show case, with only the ‘brand side’ of the packet facing the consumers and the warning side completely hidden,” Bhojani said.This, he believes, is problematic, since advertisements for cigarette and other tobacco products should include warnings as well.Dr Riyaz Basha, Nodal Officer, District Anti-Tobacco Cell, believes that some of the provisions in COTPA on advertising remain unclear, with cases still pending in the court of law.“Many forms of surrogate advertising are in practice.Even if a certain company known for its cigarette brand advertises a different product, consumers tend to identify it with the cigarette brand alone,” he said.The ultimate goal of an act like COTPA seems to be the eventual ban on all direct and indirect advertising.However, what the city officials are more concerned about is, the message that these advertisements convey.“There is a new provision that will be enforced from December onwards where 50 percent of the packet must contain the statutory warning,” said Dr Riyaz Basha.
Comments
0 comment