Govt's move to bring in ordinance for e-cigarette ban confuses traders

Traders on Tuesday said they were yet to be consulted regarding the ban on manufacture, sale, and trading of e-cigarettes — a day before the government was expected to issue an ordinance to the effect. 

The move has also divided tobacco growers, some of whom have supported the ban on these devices, while others claim e-cigarettes will ultimately lead to better realisations for farmers.

The ban on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes, has been pushed by the health ministry since 2018. A panel, led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has held deliberations on the matter in recent weeks.  However, the government has not made clear the reason behind bringing an ordinance, which is generally issued as an emergency measure bypassing the legislature.

“The government is bringing an ordinance as the proposal to ban it could have been shot down by the Delhi High Court (HC). It is strange and dubious as to why the ministry had to move with such speed on a category, which, only 3 per cent of the population has heard about, as recently claimed the Minister of State in an answer to Parliament,” Praveen Rikhy, convenor of Trade Representatives of ENDS in India (TRENDS), said.

In August 2018, the health ministry had issued an advisory restricting advertisements of e-cigarettes. Subsequently, the central drug regulator had informed state drug controllers that no ENDS products have received formal approval, and that retail sales needed to be stopped. 

However, the Delhi HC stayed the move in March, saying e-cigarettes were not drugs, adding that authorities did not have powers to issue such directives. The ordinance reportedly includes penal provisions going up to a maximum of three years in jail, and fine up to Rs 5 lakh for sale, manufacture, and even possession.

Arguments galore

In letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with ministers for finance, commerce, agriculture, and health, TRENDS on September 3 complained it was not allowed to meet health ministry officials and other relevant authorities to present their case. 

The body maintains that people who have switched to e-cigarettes as a relatively healthier alternative will be forced to go back to conventional cigarettes, while all research into the technology will stop.

It has also questioned the rationale behind targeting the e-cigarette industry, and not banning cigarettes or tobacco, instead. Rikhy said the estimated size of the industry was currently Rs 200-300 crore. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also asked the Centre to consider a regulatory framework as against an outright ban.

The ban on e-cigarettes has become a volatile political issue in the US and western Europe, where doctors, researchers and politicians have drawn up battle lines for and against banning the devices, and ‘vaping’ in particular.

In India, while the government contends that liquid nicotine may prove fatal and is potentially addictive, TRENDS has countered this view. On the other hand, while the government has pointed out that the World Health Organization has recommended a ban on e-cigarettes, TRENDS says most bans across the world have been made by countries with poor public health records.

Divided farmers

The proposed ban has been opposed by the Gujarat Tobacco Merchants Association (GTMA). “Foreign lobbies continued to attack the nascent nicotine extraction industry in the country, which has great potential to raise incomes of small tobacco farmers,” said Bhikhubhai N Patel, president of GTMA. 

However, he clarified that farmers do not extract nicotine from tobacco, at present. The process is sophisticated and capital intensive, with small companies buying local tobacco dust and releasing liquid nicotine in the concentrated form.

On the other hand, the Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) said not banning e-cigarettes would be catastrophic for local tobacco farmers. “Extraction of nicotine from tobacco, for products like ENDS, happens largely outside India from tobacco grown outside the country. This could hugely impact livelihood of Indian tobacco farmers if such products are allowed to carry on business in India,” FAIFA said on Tuesday.