Tobacco control: code of conduct proposed

World No Tobacco Day was observed last week with several one-day initiatives being taken up. However, little attention was paid to the absence of a code of conduct for government officials dealing with the tobacco industry.

Though India is a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the country is yet to have a code of conduct applicable to government officials. The code is one among the recommendations made by the FCTC.

The city-based NGO, Institute of Public Health (IPH), has formulated a draft of the code of conduct that should apply to all government officials, representatives, office-bearers and employees of any public institutions and boards within the jurisdiction of the Government.

The draft comes close on the heels of the outrage caused by the Tobacco Board of India's sponsorship of the Global Tobacco Networking Forum in the city last year. The board had to withdraw sponsorship subsequently.

“We need to prevent interference by the tobacco industry in policies relating to tobacco control, as the interference is a well-documented fact,” explained Upendra Bhojani, faculty member at IPH, who has also developed the draft.

An instance of such interference was seen during the dilution of and delay in the implementation of pictorial warnings being published on tobacco products.

The draft is an attempt to disrupt the inroads of industry into governmental policies. The code has been accepted by the Karnataka High Court, before which the draft was submitted, and the Court is said to have asked the Union Government to consider it while drafting the final code of conduct.

Recommendations

Among the recommendations is the prohibition of officials from meeting with members of the tobacco industry in private, and restrict meetings to government buildings or through public hearings, with a voice recording being made of the interaction, which should be made public. In addition, government officials should not directly or indirectly endorse potential partnerships with the tobacco industry.

Conditions

Officials are required to dissociate themselves from interests in the tobacco industry within 60 calendar days from the date of the code of conduct coming into effect, while former government employees, who have joined the tobacco industry, cannot interact with public agencies in relation to tobacco control.

The draft also says that government departments, ministries or agencies should not award contracts for carrying out any work to the tobacco institutions that have conflicts of interest with established tobacco control policies.

The corporate social responsibility of the tobacco industry has been dubbed as a public relations strategy to distance its image from the lethal nature of the product it produces and sells.