BAT prods IRR issuance for health warning law

MANILA, Philippines - British American Tobacco Philippines Ltd., maker of Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes, is seeking the immediate issuance of the implementing rules and regulations for the Graphic Health Warnings Law to ensure a smooth transition.

The law, which was approved in July 2014, requires graphic photos showing the negative effects of smoking on packs of tobacco products in a bid to deter people from smoking.

Having the IRR in place before the implementation of the GHW Law by March 3, 2016 would help make the transition easier and smoother as it would clarify the various technical details and specifications that are not adequately clear in the basic law, BAT said.

The issuance of the IRR is not a perquisite to the implementation of the GHW Law.

BAT said it is committed to fully comply with the GHW Law.

“We are exerting our utmost effort to ensure that all our packs contain the proper graphic health warnings, as issued by the Department of Health, by the implementation date that the law had mandated,” said Robert Eugenio,  head of BAT’s legal and external affairs.

“We have written a letter to the Inter-Agency Committee to expedite the issuance of the guidelines. That will be beneficial to all stakeholders, including the relevant government agencies that will enforce the law, as it will enable better preparation for the transition and better monitoring of compliance,” he added.

The DOH issued the first batch of GHW templates in late October last year, together with Administrative Order 2014-0037, which contained guidelines on the use of the templates. However, due to some revisions that had to be made, the DOH issued a revised set of templates last March, effectively pushing back the implementation date to March 3 next year.

The DOH order, however, only covered the guidelines on the use of the templates on tobacco product packaging, and did not touch on any other aspects of the GHW Law.

The more detailed guidelines are expected to be covered by the IRR.

The committee in charge of drafting the IRR held a public consultation last May 25, which allowed industry stakeholders to air their views and raise questions about the draft IRR. Among those who attended the meeting were members of tobacco-control groups, tobacco farmers, and representatives from tobacco companies.

The DOH has already issued the 12 templates of the graphic photos that will appear on the cigarette packs for two years.  The photos bear people suffering from stroke, emphysema, mouth cancer, gangrene, impotence, throat cancer, neck cancer, as well as premature birth and low birth-weight of babies of smoking mothers.