Market & legal data in the tobacco alternatives sector in Bangladesh

1st October 2024: Bangladesh: The National Board of Revenue’s Large Taxpayers Unit has issued a notice to British American Tobacco (BAT) Bangladesh for a tax recovery of BDT2.1bn ($18m), claiming the company has deprived the government of customs duty and VAT due to its pricing strategies following the tax hike in the fiscal year 2024 to 2025.
1st October 2024: Bangladesh: Health experts have proposed a nationwide ban on e-cigarettes, alongside increasing taxes on tobacco products, tightening tobacco control laws and halting advertising campaigns by tobacco companies. These suggestions were presented during a workshop titled “Empowering Young Physicians for Tobacco Control in Bangladesh”, which linked tobacco use to non-communicable diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, indicating that the scientific community in Bangladesh is taking a stricter approach towards all tobacco products.
27th September 2024: Bangladesh: At the Anti-Tobacco Youth Convention 2024, participants proposed amendments to the draft Tobacco Control Law aimed at reducing tobacco use. Key proposals included banning the import, production and marketing of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs), restricting retail and public sales of tobacco, prohibiting product displays at points-of-sale, eliminating smoking areas in public spaces and transport, banning tobacco companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and increasing the size of pictorial health warnings on tobacco packaging from 50% to 90%. The forum’s proposals to amend the Tobacco Control Law would enforce measures that, if adopted, would strengthen public health policies in the country. It was organised by the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP), which has successfully advocated for development initiatives – such as maternity allowances.
26th September 2024: Bangladesh: Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Dhaka Ahsania Mission has emphasised the need to amplify the voices of young people to reduce tobacco consumption at a workshop titled “Skill Development Training for Young Campaigners in Building a Tobacco-Free Bangladesh”. Public health experts Muhammad Mahbub Kaiser, assistant proctor and associate professor of sociology at Dhaka University, and Imam Zafar Shikder, director of the Youth and Volunteer Department at the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, said that e-cigarettes do not have a role to play in smoking cessation and should be banned, as they will otherwise contribute to the tobacco health epidemic that already claims 442 lives a day in Bangladesh.
18th September 2024: Bangladesh: The Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) criticised the country’s tobacco tax structure, calling it “flawed” due to the low cost and easy accessibility of tobacco products. The ATMA highlighted that 161,000 people die annually from tobacco-related causes in Bangladesh and argued that the tax system fails to discourage tobacco use by not raising prices. This approach is in contrast to global policies that aim to reduce tobacco consumption by increasing taxes.
17th September 2024: Bangladesh: Stop Tobacco Bangladesh, an anti-tobacco group based on social media, has called for a ban on films that violate the country’s tobacco control laws by showing cigarette use, and for punitive measures against those responsible. The organisation noted that, despite laws prohibiting tobacco use in films and similar platforms, the Bangladeshi entertainment industry continues to promote smoking and tobacco consumption.
5th August 2024: Bangladesh: Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and the army will oversee the formation of an interim government, army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a statement to the nation. The government held a negative stance towards vaping and tobacco products. Hasina adopted a programme for the country to become tobacco-free by 2040 that aims to restrict the circulation and use of nicotine products in general. In 2023, the Ministry of Health proposed a ban on the sale, promotion, marketing, production, import, and export of nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarettes. However, the proposal has not yet been adopted.
1st July 2024: Bangladesh: The Anti-Tobacco Parliamentary Women’s Forum – a forum of female members of parliament, calling to curb tobacco use – has sent a letter to prime minister Sheikh Hasina urging the swift passage of amendments to the Tobacco Control Act proposed by the Ministry of Health, press reports. In May 2023, it was reported that the Ministry of Health is working on amending Act 11/2005 on Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Tobacco Control Act) in order to ban electronic nicotine delivery systems. Heated tobacco is not defined as a tobacco product in the Tobacco Control Act, or in its amendments.
19th June 2023: Bangladesh: During a seminar organised by Nari Maitree – an NGO advocating women's rights – MP Aroma Dutta (Awami League) called for the swift approval of a draft amendment to the Tobacco Control Act, which aims to ban electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and make Bangladesh tobacco-free by 2040. Dutta highlighted the high rate of tobacco use in Bangladesh, particularly among women, and the associated health risks such as cancer and heart disease, and emphasised that the amendments aim to protect everyone from the harmful effects of tobacco, press reports.
22nd May 2023: Bangladesh: Hossain Ali Khondoker, co-ordinator of the National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC), told press that the government is currently working on amending Act No. 11/2005 on Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Tobacco Control Act) in order to ban electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Khondoker warned against ENDS, and reported that a harm-reduction approach is a misleading concept that misguides youths. Heated tobacco is not defined as a tobacco product in the Tobacco Control Act, or in its amendments.
3rd March 2023: Bangladesh: During an event to discuss the role of the media in tobacco control, the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Bangladesh, urged the government to amend the tobacco control law and ban all types of electronic smoking, impose more restrictions on tobacco retail, and increase the size of health warnings on cigarette packets from 50% to 90%, press reports.
30th January 2023: Bangladesh: In response to the proposed amendment to ban vaping and heated tobacco products, the Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association (Bendsta) has called on authorities to withdraw the proposed ban and to consult with all industry members before making any policy decisions, media reports. The organisation fears the ban will jeopardise the prime minister's vision of making the country tobacco-free by 2040.

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LATEST ALERTS

Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in Bangladesh

Bangladesh budget proposes spike in taxes to get harm down and revenue up

Man on a mission to counter ‘nicotine illiteracy’ and aid smokers everywhere

Bangladesh: oral tobacco and nicotine pouch regulation, August 2024

Bangladesh: heated tobacco and herbal heated product regulation, July 2024

TobaccoIntelligence compliance calendar

Regulatory database: global alerts round-up, September

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