The National Committee for Tobacco Control (NCTC) held yesterday Sunday its 7th meeting under the chair of H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saif al-Hosni, undersecretary of Ministry of Health for Health Affairs with attendance of the committee members from all the official authorities at the Ministry of Health headquarters.
The meeting reviewed the progress achieved in implementing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in the Sultanate. The Convention includes the decision of the Ministry of Information to ban the deployment of tobacco advertising in all mass media. In addition to the decision of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Public Authority for Consumer Protection to ban importing and trading electronic cigarette and shisha, as well as the prohibition of giving discounts on all tobacco products and banning to open tobacco shops near the educational institutions.
The meeting also reviewed the approval of their Majesties and Highnesses the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) on imposing a selective tax on tobacco, which will hopefully be applied in next October. Furthermore, it also discussed the developments related to unifying the requirements of providing shisha and implementation of study of using tobacco among adults in the Sultanate.
The meeting discussed the decision of the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources on issuing the regulation of providing shisha in the cafes and the prohibition of use it in the enclosed public places, as well as the residential areas.
The meeting touched on the visit of UN delegation to the Sultanate on the non-communicable diseases, the developments on issuing the Tobacco Control Act, the latest development to join to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and updating the standards specifications of Oman on tobacco products.
The Committee members include representatives from the Ministry of Health, Royal Oman Police (ROP), World Health Organization (WHO), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Manpower, Public Authority for Consumer Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of Information, Muscat Municipality and Dhofar Municipality.
