Why BD’s tobacco law still falls short

Tobacco use remains one of the greatest public health threats globally, causing over 7 million deaths each year. Bangladesh has established laws to control tobacco use but the law still contains loopholes that weaken its effectiveness and limit the law’s impact on reducing tobacco-related harm.

According to Tobacco Atlas in 2025, every day, 357 people and over 130,000 annually lose their lives due to tobacco-related illnesses.

The National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Lung Foundation, and Bangladesh Cancer Society issued a joint statement on Monday (8 December 2025) to strengthen the Tobacco Control Act as the only viable measure to safeguard public health.

According to the joint statement, 71% of all deaths in Bangladesh are caused by non-communicable diseases, and tobacco use plays a major role in this burden.

Tobacco is responsible for heart disease, cancer, and chronic respiratory illnesses in the country.

According to the Bangladesh Cancer Society, around 1.5 million adults suffer from tobacco-related illnesses every year. Second-hand smoke alone causes about 25,000 deaths annually and harms nearly 61,000 children.

Economically, a study by Johns Hopkins University shows that in the 2023–24 fiscal year, the government earned Tk40,000 crore from tobacco, while the combined health and environmental costs reached Tk84,000 crore, more than twice the revenue generated.

In 2003, the government of Bangladesh signed the FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control), an international treaty initiated by the WHO to reduce the prevalence of tobacco.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has already formulated the draft amendment to the Smoking and Using of Tobacco Products (Control) Act, 2005 with a view to strengthening the tobacco control law.
The draft amendment has incorporated a number of important proposals and attempted to amend certain clauses.

The most notable changes incorporated in the draft amendment include eliminating the provisions for designated smoking areas in public places and transport; banning display of tobacco products and packs at points-of-sale; banning tobacco companies’ direct or via third-party involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

What law says?
Bangladesh enacted the Tobacco Control Act in 2005. In May 2013, the Act was passed in an amended form. The last tobacco control rules 2015 were passed on March 12 in the light of the amended law.

The amended Act 2013 and Rules 2015 have made strict provisions to protect all smokers, including women and children, from secondhand smoke.

According to the Tobacco Control Amendment Act 2013 under section 4, smoking in public places and public transport has been completely banned.

The amended law includes the inclusion of private offices in the definition of a public place and the penalty has been increased from Tk 50 to Tk 300 under section 4.

Tobacco Control Amendment Act 2013 also includes the use of smoke-free products such as roses, Jordan, khaini and white leaves by sucking and chewing.

The law was amended in parliament on Monday to increase the fines for smoking in public places by six times to Tk300, as well as to print health warnings with pictures on half of a packet of tobacco products. At the same time, a provision has been made in the amended law to ban the advertisement of tobacco products and the sale of tobacco products to minors.

Tobacco Control Amendment Act 2013 prohibits direct and indirect advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products. Even advertising in any way in the sale of tobacco products has been banned under section 5.

Violation of this provision is punishable by imprisonment for not more than three months or a fine not exceeding one lakh taka under section-5(4) of this Act.

Loopholes in Bangladesh’s Tobacco Control Act (Amended 2013) and Rules (2015)
A major loophole remains the provision for Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) in public places and public transport that have more than one cabin or room.

However, DSAs do not adequately protect non-smokers, particularly women and children, from secondhand smoke, as smoke often permeates the surrounding areas.

The law’s definition of a ‘public place’ is not entirely comprehensive. The law does not fully cover all places where people gather and it still allows smoking in open-air restaurants. As a result, many people including non-smokers can still be exposed to secondhand smoke.

A key loophole is the lack of specific restrictions on the display of tobacco products at the Point of Sale (POS) while the law prohibits direct and indirect advertising and sponsorship.

Tobacco companies take advantage of this by placing their products in ways that catch people’s attention, especially children, turning sales points into a form of advertising.

The law prohibits tobacco companies from using their names, trademarks, symbols or brands to promote activities under section 5 (1) including CSR. If these activities indirectly promote tobacco products or tobacco use.

However, it does not comprehensively ban all CSR activities by tobacco companies if those activities are not linked to promoting tobacco products. In practice, this means contributions that are purely philanthropic but not advertised as linked to tobacco brands could still occur.

Enforcement is further weakened by the low fine for public smoking (Tk 300) compared to the health and economic costs, and the narrow definition of ‘Authorized Officers’ tasked with enforcement, leading to insufficient monitoring and widespread non-compliance, particularly concerning the sale of tobacco to minors and at the point of sale.

Although the 2013 amendment brought smokeless tobacco (SLT) under the law’s purview, its regulation, particularly taxation, remains inadequate. SLT products are often sold informally and in unpackaged forms, making tax collection and law enforcement difficult.

The taxation structure is complex, and the tax base for SLT is often the ‘ex-factory price,’ keeping the products highly affordable and accessible. The law currently lacks specific provisions to regulate emerging tobacco products like e-cigarettes and vaping devices, allowing them to be sold and promoted without control.

The required Pictorial Health Warnings (PHW), though mandated to cover 50% of the packet, are often undermined by tobacco industry interference which resulted in the warnings being printed on the lower half of the packet, where they are less visible or easily obscured, contrary to international best practices.