ঢাকাশনিবার , ৮ অগাস্ট ২০২৬
The Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance has urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to immediately withdraw a proposed meeting with multinational and local tobacco companies, warning that the initiative poses a grave threat to public health and risks undermining the country’s tobacco-control framework.
According to the sources, the NBR intends to engage the tobacco industry in discussions on the draft ‘Smoking and Tobacco Products (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024’, illicit cigarette imports, revenue collection and the wide impact of tobacco on health and the environment. The alliance condemned the plan, stressing that tobacco companies- whose core objective is profit from harmful products- cannot be considered legitimate stakeholders in public health policymaking.
‘This move is fundamentally against public interest. It would give the tobacco industry another opportunity to weaken life-saving laws and push the population, especially youth, into greater health risks,’ the alliance said in a statement.
The group invoked Bangladesh’s commitments under the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which obliges managements to protect health policies from industry interference. It also cited Article 18(1) of the Constitution, which prioritises public-health protection as a fundamental responsibility of the state and pointed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which cannot be achieved if public health is compromised.
The statement noted that past intervention by tobacco firms have obstructed policy reforms, while lenient approaches by some ministries have further entrenched industry influence. It warned that rising tobacco cultivation, encouraged by industry-friendly policies, threatens national food security by diverting fertile land from essential crops.
Highlighting the dominance of two foreign companies in Bangladesh’s cigarette market, the alliance said these firms are aggressively targeting young people to expand their consumer base, thereby endangering both health and economic stability. ‘No nation can achieve sustainable development by allowing its youth to be trapped in tobacco addiction,’ the statement added.
The alliance called on the NBR to cancel the meeting and instead collaborate with stakeholders who advance public health and environmental protection. It further demanded stricter regulation of tobacco companies, warning that accommodating their interests contradicts constitutional obligations, international treaties and the country’s long-term development goals.
