Recently the Ministry of Health has prepared a draft for further revision of the Tobacco Control Act 2005. The leaders of the Bangladesh Supermarket Owners’ Association (BSOA), the association of one of the top business organizations, have demanded the speedy passage of this draft TC law amendment.
Speakers made this demand at a joint discussion meeting of Bangladesh Supermarket Owners’ Association with Dhaka Ahsania Mission on September 04, 2022, at 5 pm at Mohakhali, Dhaka. Bangladesh Supermarket Owners Association’s Chief Advisor and Founder President Niaz Rahim presided over the meeting, among others, the general secretary of the organization Zakir Hossain, Lead Policy Advisor of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Bangladesh and retired Chairman of BCIC (Grade-1) Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Grants Manager Abdus Salam Mia, Deputy Director of Health Sector of Dhaka Ahsania Mission Md. Mukhleshur Rahman, Tobacco Control Project Coordinator Md Shariful Islam, Media Manager Rezaur Rahman Rizvi, Program Officer Sharmin Akhter Rini and Audut Rahman Imon attended the meeting.
Niaz Rahim, chief advisor and founder president of Bangladesh Supermarket Owners Association, said in the exchange meeting that Bangladesh Supermarket Owners Association agrees with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s vision to make the country tobacco-free by 2040. We applaud the Ministry of Health for recently drafting a further amendment to strengthen the Tobacco Control Act. We have full support for the revised draft of the TC Law. We hope the amended law will be passed soon and the Prime Minister’s vision will be successful.
General Secretary of Bangladesh Supermarket Owners Association Zakir Hossain said that everyone knows that any drug starts with smoking. So, we also want to make Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s announcement to create a tobacco-free Bangladesh a success. There are currently more than two hundred supermarkets in the country. We will make every effort to encourage our members to stop displaying tobacco products in their respective supermarkets. We have learned that in the amendment draft of the Tobacco Control Act prepared by the Ministry of Health, it has been proposed to ban the display of tobacco products at the point of sale, which I think is very reasonable. I thank the Ministry of Health for this. Besides, I am drawing the attention of the government concerned to pass the draft law amendment as soon as possible.
Lead Policy Advisor of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Bangladesh and retired Chairman of BCIC (Grade-1) Md. Mostafizur Rahman said that the current “Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Act 2005” completely prohibits the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. However, the existing law does not specifically prohibit the display of tobacco products at the point of sale. In this opportunity, tobacco companies are mainly advertising and promoting tobacco products through the exhibition of their products in the sales center. For this reason, the Ministry of Health has recently formulated a draft for further revision of the Tobacco Control Act. If this draft is approved, I believe that many of the weak aspects of the tobacco control law, including the ban on point-of-sale display of tobacco products, single stick sales and CSR by tobacco companies, will largely be removed and we will have a strong tobacco control law.