New Delhi, July 17 -- Consumer Online Foundation (COF) has urged the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to constitute a National Task Force to tackle illicit tobacco trade, citing growing concerns over smuggled cigarettes, counterfeit tobacco products and illegal nicotine products that, it said, threaten consumer safety, public health and government revenues.
In a representation addressed to the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Foundation said that while India has made significant progress in tobacco control through legislative and fiscal measures, these efforts are increasingly being undermined by the proliferation of illicit tobacco products that evade taxes, regulatory oversight and statutory health safeguards.
The representat...