PESHAWAR: The Provincial Alliance for Sustainable Tobacco Control, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has called for passage of Vendour Act from the provincial assembly to register cigarette and other tobacco products and also fixed a fee on shopkeepers to regulate the sale of tobacco in the province.
The demand was made during a press conference of the tobacco control organizations in collaboration with Blue Veins here in the press club.
They said that the West Pakistan Tobacco Vend Act. 1958 was repealed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the influence of the tobacco industry in 2010. The re-enactment and well enforcement of tobacco under vendour licensing policies can encourage vendours to comply with existing tobacco control regulations.
They said that tobacco is a leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide, with more than 8 million people dying each year due to tobacco-related illnesses. In Pakistan, tobacco use is responsible for a significant number of deaths, with an estimated 160,000 deaths per year attributed to tobacco-related diseases.
According to tobacco control organizations, the retailing licensing has been recommended as an effective tobacco control strategy worldwide. Adopting tobacco retailer licensing laws can be contributing way to ensure compliance with tobacco laws and to combat public health problems.
Qamar Naseem, Programme Manager Blue Veins said that the regulation and enforcement of vending licenses will help regulate the sale of tobacco products in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ensure that only licensed vendours are allowed to sell tobacco products. The step, he said will not only help reduce the availability of tobacco products, rather will also ensure that the products are sold in compliance with the laws.
Similarly, Zahood Ahmad, a member of the Alliance for Tobacco Control, said that tobacco vendour licensing policies will help to facilitate authorities in strengthening sustainable measures to tobacco control. Licenses would also increase the livelihood that vendours will comply fully with tax policies and the revenue generated from the license fees will also help fund tobacco control initiatives.
Usman Afridi, a students’ rights activist and member of the Alliance for Tobacco Control said that requiring tobacco vendours to obtain a license and registration is a critical step towards reducing the availability of tobacco products especially to minors, and promoting tobacco control.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023