Cross River State has scored low in terms of regulations of the use of tobacco products in the state.
Programme Officer Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, Chibuike Nwokorie, made the remarks when the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on Tuesday embarked on the enforcement of graphic health warning policy on tobacco products in Cross River State.
The enforcement exercise took the team to Etim Edem Park, Bogobiri and the Spar shopping mall in Calabar.
According to him, “This team is getting results especially when it comes to cigarettes and I can say that for Calabar this is the highest level of compliance we have seen in the country in terms of cigarettes.
“But for snuff and other tobacco products, like shisha, the compliance level is still very low and almost zero.”
According to him, the objective of the enforcement exercise is to “enforce the graphic health warnings policy as prescribed by the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the regulations, 2019, provide sensitisation and information on the harmful effects of tobacco use.
“To enforce the policy on all tobacco products (snuff, cigarettes, cigar, etc.), including novel tobacco products.”
Nwokorie also said because tobacco products ought to be a luxury good, government should increase the taxation on them.
The enforcement is in tandem with the National Tobacco Control Act and National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019 which requires that tobacco products imported, manufactured, or distributed in Nigeria must have graphic/pictorial health warnings on 50% of the principal display area of the product’s packaging.
The FCCPC had embarked on a similar exercise in Abuja, Lagos and Kano.
A tobacco dealer at Etim Edem park, Okaka Chinedu, said he doesn’t see anything wrong with the enforcement as the team was doing its job.
He said like others, tobacco business was affected by the bad economy.