India - cigarette/bidis companies resume tobacco production..

December 24, 2010 - Leading cigarette manufacturers Godfrey Phillips India (GPI)and ITC have resumed production after getting directions from the government on what kind of pictorial warnings should be displayed on the packets. When contacted, GPI Vice-President Marketing Neeta Kapur confirmed that the company has resumed production since Monday. Similarly, an ITC official also confirmed the same saying the company has "even resumed dispatches".

Background:

December 7, 2010 - Faced with major tobacco firms halting production over implementation of pictorial warnings (India - revised pictorial warnings on tobacco products will be implemented from December 1, 2010..), the Union (India's) Cabinet on Tuesday, December 7th decided that the current pictures will remain in place for another year. (India - cigarettes and bidis manufacturers halt production seek clarification on pictorial health warnings..)

December 4, 2010 - India's largest cigarette firm ITC, maker of India Kings, Gold Flake and Navy Cut, has stopped production at all its manufacturing units in view of uncertainty over pictorial warnings to be carried on tobacco products starting this month. The company said there was no clarity on types of warnings to be carried on the packages. ITC has stopped production at all five units located across India since yesterday. Confirming the development an ITC spokesperson said, "Units (for making cigarettes) are shut because of the ambiguity in pictorial warnings to be carried from December 1 onwards." According to industry sources, even Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), the country's second largest cigarette maker after ITC that owns brands like Four Square, Red and White and Cavanders, has stopped production. (India - cigarettes and bidis manufacturers halt production seek clarification on pictorial health warnings..)

The existing pictorial warnings -- a scorpion on bidi packs and a cancer-affected lung on cigarette packs -- were to be replaced by a cancer-affected mouth, from December 1 after a notification by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in May this year. (India - revised pictorial warnings on tobacco products will be implemented from December 1, 2010..)

Reference: Godfrey Phillips, ITC resume cigarette production, The Economic Times, 12/23/2010.

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