Nepal: Authorities urged to enforce anti-smoking law

Nepal - The Ministry of Administration has ordered all its decentralized departments across the country to strictly implement the Tobacco Products Act, 2011. This includes enforcing the ban on smoking in public places and banning all forms of tobacco advertising. The law also prohibits the sale and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products in certain public places, including educational institutions, parks, daycare centers and homes for the elderly.

The law requires that visible and legible signs reminding people of the smoking ban be posted in various public places. According to the law, any person or company violating the law is liable to a fine ranging from 100 rupees (€0.80) to 100,000 rupees (€800), depending on the nature of the violation.

To recall, Nepal became a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on 5 February 2007 and has adopted various tobacco control measures over the past few decades. The Government of Nepal approved the anti-smoking guidelines of the Tobacco Products Control and Regulation Act, 2010 in November 2011. This was considered a milestone in tobacco control in the country. Since then, Nepal has made significant progress in tobacco control. Although Nepal is yet to implement plain packaging, the health warnings cover 90% of the cigarette pack surface area. This is the largest size of health warnings in the world.