India currently does not have any specific laws for the implementation of Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which deals with the protection of public health policies with respect to tobacco control, from commercial and other vested interest of the tobacco industry. The CLPR team has conducted:
(a) A detailed review of the various ways in which Article 5.3 and the 5.3 Implementing Guidelines for the Article have been violated in letter and spirit in India,
(b) A review of legislation in other countries that aims to implement Article 5.3 and the Article 5.3 Implementing Guidelines, and
(c) A review of existing legislation and policies in India around conflicts of interest, transparency and codes of conduct adopted by other industries in order to draw analogies to the tobacco industry and suggest areas where such laws or policies could be extended or replicated for the tobacco industry.
The report in particular focuses on the following three related areas in the Article 5.3 Guidelines: (a) interactions with the tobacco industry, requirements for transparency and preferential treatment; (b) conflicts of interest for government institutions and government officials in formulating and implementing tobacco control policies and; (c) regulating CSR activities of the tobacco industry.
