Jaipur: The tobacco industry has sought to delay strict new health warning rules by appealing to the Supreme Court, a move anti-smoking activists say could backfire given that the court has ruled against cigarette makers in the past.
Earlier this month tobacco companies, some backed by "Big Tobacco" firms in the West, effectively went on strike by closing factories in protest against demands that 85 per cent of a cigarette packet's surface be covered by health warnings, up from the older requirement of 20 per cent.
The industry estimates the stoppages cost it as much as Rs 450 crore a day, taking cumulative losses of over Rs 5,000 crore.
That tactic worked in India in 2010, when the government delayed a set of warnings proposed at the time after the industry shuttered plants.
"The tide has turned and the tobacco industry is on a downhill slope," said one of the activists, Sanjay Seth.
The Tobacco Institute of India, an industry lobby group, declined to comment for this story. It has called the packaging rules drastic and impractical, saying the law will increase smuggling of illegal cigarettes.
But the biggest companies - ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, and U.S.-based Philip Morris International's (PMI) India partner Godfrey Phillips - are holding out.
The plea, filed by the Karnataka Beedi Industry Association, seeks a stay in enforcing the new rules, saying that they would bring the industry to a "grinding halt" and "cause grave and irreparable harm and loss".
The appeal against the packaging regulations, which are among the world's strictest, does not directly involve major cigarette makers, but any ruling could also apply to them.
Earlier this month tobacco companies, some backed by "Big Tobacco" firms in the West, effectively went on strike by closing factories in protest against demands that 85 per cent of a cigarette packet's surface be covered by health warnings, up from the older requirement of 20 per cent.
The industry estimates the stoppages cost it as much as Rs 450 crore a day, taking cumulative losses of over Rs 5,000 crore.
That tactic worked in India in 2010, when the government delayed a set of warnings proposed at the time after the industry shuttered plants.
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"The tide has turned and the tobacco industry is on a downhill slope," said one of the activists, Sanjay Seth.
The Tobacco Institute of India, an industry lobby group, declined to comment for this story. It has called the packaging rules drastic and impractical, saying the law will increase smuggling of illegal cigarettes.
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But the biggest companies - ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, and U.S.-based Philip Morris International's (PMI) India partner Godfrey Phillips - are holding out.
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The plea, filed by the Karnataka Beedi Industry Association, seeks a stay in enforcing the new rules, saying that they would bring the industry to a "grinding halt" and "cause grave and irreparable harm and loss".
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The appeal against the packaging regulations, which are among the world's strictest, does not directly involve major cigarette makers, but any ruling could also apply to them.
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© Thomson Reuters 2016
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