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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Dec. 15

The skull and cross bones will be a compulsory pictorial warning on tobacco products, including beedi packs, as per provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules 2006, from February 1, 2007.

In a reply to a Call Attention Motion in Parliament, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, said that the deadline for implementation of pictorial warning would have to stay as studies have shown that beedi contained higher concentration of nicotine, and that 50 per cent of cancer deaths was attributed to tobacco consumption. "I must clarify that there are studies to indicate that various positive public health measures such as the present one do not have any immediate economic impact on the (beedi) industry, due to the addictive nature of the tobacco product and the time taken for demand reduction," he said.

He pointed out that 45 per cent of tobacco consumption in the country is in the form of beedi.

The beedi industry had argued that the beedi is less harmful than other forms of tobacco and called for the display area to be reduced from 50 to 20 per cent.

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