The tobacco industry, an obstacle to the effective implementation of legislation in Nepal

Despite theoretically ambitious anti-smoking legislation in Nepal, the country continues to be severely affected by rising smoking rates. This is due to laws that are delayed, poorly enforced, and often circumvented, with the active complicity of the tobacco industry, which has infiltrated decision-making bodies.

The 2025 edition of the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index (GTIII), published by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) and covering 100 countries, ranks Nepal among the states with high tobacco industry influence, with a score of 43. By comparison, countries like Brunei have minimal interference (14), while the Dominican Republic (98), Switzerland (96), and the United States (94) are among those with the strongest influence. According to the report, this situation contributes to limiting the effective implementation of tobacco control policies in Nepal.[1].

Public health experts are therefore calling on the Nepalese government to rigorously and clearly enforce the anti-tobacco law and to combat industry interference in accordance with its international commitments.

The human and economic cost of smoking is high due to insufficiently enforced anti-smoking legislation.

According to the study, approximately 33% of the Nepalese population still consumes tobacco products, while 98% of citizens are aware of their harmful effects.

Dr. Tara Singh Bam, director of Tobacco Control Asia Pacific, cited official data from the Tobacco Control Information and Regulation Center[1]. His comparison of the 2019 and 2023 figures revealed a worrying trend: in 2019, approximately 24,800 people died in Nepal from smoking-related illnesses. By 2023, this number had climbed to 39,200. These figures confirm that tobacco-related deaths have almost doubled in just five years.

Dr. Bam emphasized that this is not only a human tragedy but also a heavy economic burden. He indicated that Nepal spends approximately 12.2 billion Nepalese rupees (71 million euros) annually on the treatment of tobacco-related non-communicable diseases, such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases, and diabetes, a cost borne jointly by the state and citizens that contributes to worsening poverty among the affected populations.

In theory, Nepal's tobacco control legislation is among the strictest in South Asia, particularly with the world's only approval of textual and graphic health warnings covering 100% of the front and back surface of tobacco packs.

In fact, the report published by the Health Rights and Tobacco Control Network highlights persistent weaknesses in the application of Nepal's Tobacco Product Control and Regulation Act, 2068.

Although Nepal was one of the first countries to sign the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003, ratification of the text only took place in 2006 and the adoption of the national law took four years with implementation that remains partial and insufficient.

Despite the legal ban on smoking in public places, violations continue to rise, as do the sales of tobacco to minors, which are also prohibited. In Kathmandu, the ban on smoking in public has been implemented six times, notably in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2024, and 2025, with a fine of 500 rupees (€3) for offenders. Each time, these announcements have yielded few concrete results due to rarely enforced penalties, a lack of resources, and a lack of monitoring and coordination among authorities. This is compounded by resistance from the hospitality sector, coupled with a strong normalization of smoking, even in the presence of children.

Of the country's 753 municipalities, only a few actually enforce the control measures, while many hotels and restaurants continue to sell tobacco products, or even promote and encourage its consumption. Advertisements are displayed that associate drinking tea with smoking a cigarette.

However, many parents of teenagers are calling for an effective ban on the sale and consumption of tobacco.[3].

Anti-smoking legislation weakened by strong industry interference

The report also mentions the industry's influence on decision-making processes, including its presence in certain government meetings to slow down or weaken anti-tobacco bills, its role in the representation of tobacco in the media and the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions for promotional purposes, such as donations to schools, support for NGOs and the purchase of ambulances, in violation of the law.

Public health experts, activists, and political observers noted at a summit organized in Kathmandu by Action Nepal the presence of individuals linked to the tobacco industry within key ministries (health, industry, trade, supply) as well as in the agencies responsible for drafting laws and enforcing regulations. These officials are thus under little incentive to carry out their mission of monitoring and punishing violations.

Action Nepal has accused the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, Anil Kumar Sinha, of conflict of interest and alleged support for the tobacco industry, in contradiction with the 2014 regulation and directive aimed at protecting public health policies from tobacco industry interference.Code of Conduct for Public Officials on Tobacco Control).

The organization highlighted Sinha's past and present ties to tobacco companies. Before joining the Supreme Court, he represented the legal interests of companies in the sector. His former firm, now headed by his daughter Anjalika Sinha, still defends tobacco manufacturers, particularly in appeals against the expansion of health warnings on tobacco packaging. A recent interim Supreme Court ruling in favor of a manufacturer has thus delayed the implementation of the measure.

The speakers also denounced a wider influence of the tobacco industry on public health policies, citing the lack of commitment to enforce existing laws, the lack of transparency on the industry's production and marketing expenditures, the lack of control by the tax service, the blocking of increases in tobacco taxes - which are among the lowest in South Asia - the absence of plain packaging, which the government has been considering for several years, and regulatory inconsistencies, particularly on electronic cigarettes.

Health experts call for strict enforcement and protection of tobacco industry measures

Dr. Bam stated that, according to his projections, with effective laws, clear policies, and their rigorous enforcement over the next 15 years, Nepal could avoid considerable human and financial losses:

On the one hand, decisive measures taken now could save 1.144 million lives over the next 15 years and directly save around 24 billion Nepalese rupees (140 million euros) in medical treatment costs, compared to the current status quo.

On the other hand, it is estimated that tobacco-related harms reduce Nepal's GDP by 1.2 trillion Nepalese pounds (1.3 trillion), with approximately 12.7 billion Nepalese rupees (74 million euros) in lost productivity each year due to preventable health problems and premature deaths linked to tobacco use. Strict measures could prevent productivity losses worth 24.9 billion Nepalese rupees (145 million euros).

Finally, speakers at the Kathmandu summit called for the identification and removal of industry "agents" from ministries, regulatory bodies, public agencies, and oversight bodies. A call for transparency was made, including strict management of conflicts of interest and coordinated action by authorities to strengthen the protection of public health, particularly that of young people.

This situation is not specific to Nepal since Worldwide, the interference of the tobacco industry has intensified., Many governments continue to yield to pressure from manufacturers, delaying or weakening public health measures. In this context, the importance of transposing and implementing the provisions of the WHO treaty, the FCTC, particularly those relating to policy protection, was strongly emphasized at the last session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) last November.

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1]Pabitra Sunar, Influence of tobacco industry in Nepal: Control Act remains largely on paper, Republica, published on January 19, 2026, accessed on January 20, 2026

[2]Pabitra Sunar, Tobacco toll soars: Deaths double in just five years, Republica, published on December 14, 2025, accessed on January 20, 2026

[3]Kathmandu makes new push to enforce public smoking ban, Inquiret.net, published December 29, 2025, accessed January 20, 2026

National Committee Against Smoking |