Graphic warnings in Kenya

Tobacco manufacturers and importers will be required from tomorrow to comply with new rules governing the health warnings on cigarette packs sold in Kenya, according to a story in The Daily Nation.

The new rules require that the size of the warnings are increased and that graphic images are included.

They are part of a series of regulations that were outlined in a seven-page advertisement in the Nation on Tuesday.

Among these regulations is one that requires tobacco retailers to display standardized signs indicating that they are licensed to sell cigarettes.

Another means that retailers will be allowed to sell cigarettes only in packs, not as single sticks.

Possibly the most contentious of the regulations requires that at the end of every financial year, tobacco companies will be required to pay a ‘Solatium Compensatory Contribution’ equivalent to two percent of the value of their manufactured or imported tobacco products.

In an e-mail to the Nation, British American Tobacco (BAT)’s area head of legal and external affairs, Simukai Munjanganja, said his company was concerned that some of the regulations were disproportionate, oppressive and contrary to the constitution.

“We are not opposed to regulation,” he said. “We support regulation that is balanced and evidence based – actually helping to achieve the intended public health objectives.”