Experts raise concern over illegal cigarettes in region, seek crackdown

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 8

Seeking immediate tightening of regulations and crackdown on illegal cigarettes, experts have warned of an impending crisis with implications for health and government revenues in the wake of manufacturing and sales of these cigarettes in the region.

“In addition to illegally manufactured cigarettes, counterfeit cigarettes are also being smuggled from China and elsewhere. Brands like Win, Black, ESSE, Mond, Pine, etc., do not carry mandatory 85 per cent pictorial warnings, thereby giving a gullible consumer an impression that these are safer cigarettes,” said RK Tiwari of Centre for Public Awareness.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 1 in every 10 cigarettes and tobacco products consumed globally is illicit. However in India, the situation is grave. Here, 1 in every 4 cigarettes is illegal.

“In addition to posing serious health challenges for youth, the trade in illicit cigarettes causes an estimated loss of over Rs 13,000 crore in tax evasions to the government,” said Tiwari.

“Illegal cigarettes come mixed with hazardous substances, including imported intoxicants from China, and they are extremely harmful. Experts point out that such illegal cigarettes have five times as much cadmium, nearly six times as much lead and high levels of arsenic. They also contain 160 per cent more tar, 80 per cent more nicotine and 133 per cent more carbon monoxide,” said Dr Rakesh Khullar of the BGJ Institute of Health, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Cigarette licences are regulated by the Industries Development and Regulation Act of 1951. After 1991 de-licensing, only five industries are under the compulsory licensing, including cigars and cigarettes of tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes. No new licences have been granted for manufacture of these items since 1999. Yet illicit manufacturing of cigarettes continues using a flaw in the Act.

“The definition of ‘factory’ under the Act does not make any exceptions on products. It says that units employing less than 50 workers with the aid of power, or 100 workers without the aid of power, can set up a factory without obtaining a compulsory licence, and that is where the problem lies,” said Pampa Mukherjee, professor at Panjab University, Chandigarh.

“Flaunting this loophole, many factories have come up in Punjab manufacturing and clearing cigarettes clandestinely,” said Tiwari.

Sources said it was an organised racket and one could get a packet of illegal cigarettes home delivered by just making a phone call.

According to Euromonitor International, as the prices of cigarettes continued to rise, the demand for cheaper illicit brands continued to increase. The products are less expensive as they are not taxed and more appealing because they are devoid of anti-tobacco graphic images and text messages.