The Advisers’ Council has approved the Smoking and Tobacco Products Use (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, paving the way for tougher measures to strengthen Bangladesh’s tobacco control regime.
The ordinance, proposed by the Health Services Division under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, introduces stricter restrictions to curb tobacco use, while authorities have been instructed to swiftly obtain vetting from the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division to facilitate its promulgation.
Official figures show that tobacco use remains a leading cause of cancer and other non-communicable diseases in the country, resulting in more than 130,000 premature deaths each year, prompting the move to update and strengthen the Smoking and Tobacco Products Use (Control) Act, 2005.
Under the approved ordinance, the use, production and marketing of emerging tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and heated tobacco products (HTP), will be banned, while nicotine pouches have been brought under the definition of tobacco products.
The revised provisions prohibit the use of all tobacco products, in addition to smoking, in public places and on public transport, while the retention of designated smoking areas will now be subject to government directives and the scope of public places and public transport has been expanded.
The ordinance also bans the display of tobacco products at points of sale and prohibits all forms of advertising, promotion and dissemination through the internet or any other medium.
It further mandates larger health warnings on tobacco product packaging, increasing the coverage from the existing 50 percent to 75 percent of the total surface area.
