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The government is considering a licensing policy for tobacco products seeking to extend regulations beyond cigarettes to chewable tobacco items such as beedi and gutka.
However, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has reportedly started internal discussions on what might be the policy implications of licensing for the tobacco sector.
The deliberations follow sharp health and safety concerns raised by the Health ministry over consumption of tobacco products and come ahead of a global anti-tobacco conference set to be held in India in November.
The Conference of Parties (COP7) is set to review the implementation of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
"There is already regulations in the form of mandatory pictorial warning on beedi packets," Sanjay Vyas, a beedi manufacturer from Gujarat said. Beedi manufactures have claimed that tobacco is available in less quantity in beedis and therefore it should not be subject to the same controls imposed on tobacco.
Cigarettes account for only 11% of overall tobacco consumption in India, although there are significant curbs and disclosures to discourage consumption. The balance 89% includes traditional products such as chewing tobacco, bidi, khaini and illegal cigarettes, the consumption of which goes on without any warning.
"The majority of beedi growing areas fall in Maharashtra and Gujarat where the manufacturing companies are rich and even the farmers are relatively weel off but the situation is dire in other areas," said Ismail Haque, the proprietor of Guddu Beedi-based in West Bengal.
The Public Health Foundation of India in Bengaluru has suggested that taxes on all tobacco products should be substantially raised especially since excise duties on such products remain low. The global standards of tobacco tax burden rets at 70% as recommended by the World Health Organization.
Currently, there remains distinction between machine made and handmade beedis.
Sectoral experts also suggest that manufacturers in the unorganized sector should also be brought in the tax net.
Last week, the Supreme Court had made it clear that it has banned the sale of all forms of chewable tobacco and nicotine and directed authorities, including the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to strictly enforce its directions.
