ISLAMABAD: The tobacco industrialists have expressed their reservations over the Ministry of National Health Services’ (NHS) decision to increase area of have pictorial warnings on cigarette packets from 40 per cent to 85 per cent.
Tobacco industrialists have also written letters to the ministry in this regard and claimed that the decision would destroy their business and country’s economy.
However, the NHS Minister said the decision has been made after consultations with the ministry of law and permission from provincial governments and it will be implemented from May 31.
The tobacco industrialists also wrote letters to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman to convince him to help withdraw the decision, but he rejected the tobacco industry’s claim that pictorial health warnings would encourage smuggling of cigarettes.
Nongovernmental organisations welcomed the decision but doubted the government’s ability to implement it in the face of pressure from the influential tobacco industry.
