Port Blair, June 29: The South Andaman District Level Monitoring Committee meeting was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner, South Andaman to ensure the implementation of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, (COTPA) 2003, in the South Andaman District.
In the meeting, it was decided that the all departments would nominate a Nodal Officer to implement the same in their respective departments/Institutions. It was decided that the monitoring committee will ensure the implementation of the COTPA, 2003, which applies to products containing tobacco in any form (cigarettes, bidis, gutka, pan masala (with tobacco), cigars, cheroots, khaini, mawa, mishri, snuff, etc).
The key provisions include prohibition of smoking in public places, prohibition of direct and indirect advertisement of cigarettes and other tobacco products, prohibition and display of sign boards showing sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to a person below the age of 18 years, prohibition of sale of tobacco products near educational institutions and mandatory pictorial warnings on all tobacco product packs.
All stakeholders and general public have been informed and requested to follow the norms of the above Act, failing which appropriate action will be initiated against them as per the Act.
