New Delhi, Oct 19 (Bureau) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has formed an expert panel on tobacco taxation tasking it to develop a proposal for comprehensive tax policy for all tobacco products with a public health perspective. Vikas Sheel, Additional Secretary and Mission Director in the Ministry will chair the panel. The expert panel would also have representatives from government think-tank Niti Aayog, GST Council, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and World Health Organizatiion (WHO). The office communication noted that tax and price policies are widely recognised to be one of the most effective means of influencing the demand for consumption of tobacco products.
As per the terms of reference (ToR) for the expert panel, the committee will analyse the existing tax structure for all forms of tobacco products, either smoking or smokeless. It will develop a roadmap for tobacco tax policy and recommend immediate steps to be taken for making India MPOWER compliant with regards to ‘R’ component (highest level of achievement). The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and its guidelines provide the foundation for countries to implement and manage tobacco control. To help make this a reality, WHO introduced the MPOWER measures which include monitoring tobacco use, protecting people from tobacco smoke, quitting tobacco, warning about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing tobacco advertising, promotion & sponsorship bans and raising taxes on tobacco. The newly-formed expert panel will suggest various options and models of tax rates and standards for consideration in the budget 2022-23 and future budget sessions.