News Desk

A campaign group against smoking has taken issue with British American Tobacco’s subsidiary’s attempts
to persuade the Pakistani government to permit the company to transport 10-packs of cigarettes to the
war-torn Sudan.
Pakistan is one of the more than 80 nations that forbid the production or sale of 10-pack cigarettes, which
the World Health Organization claims make smoking more accessible to young people.
Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC), a subsidiary of BAT, has written to the government’s health ministry to
advocate for a legal amendment that would let it to produce smaller packs in the country for export to
Sudan and other nations where they are not banned.
PTC announced that it had “received a new export order to manufacture for Sudan, which includes packs
of 10 cigarettes” in a letter that was leaked and obtained by the Guardian.
According to PTC, the selling of 10-packs is not prohibited in Sudan, where a civil conflict that is thought
to have claimed up to 150,000 people is ongoing.
The business claimed to the government of Islamabad that the law would “benefit Pakistan” since the
order was worth $20.5 million and could be duplicated, bringing significant dollar reserves into Pakistan.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which was ratified by more than 180 nations,
including Pakistan and Sudan, requires them to forbid the sale of cigarettes either individually or in small
packets that make the product more accessible to minors.
A minimum of 20 sticks per pack is required by law in at least 82 countries, despite the FCTC’s lack of
definition regarding small packs.
The export order, according to London-based BAT, which manufactures brands like Rothmans and Lucky
Strike, was meant to take the place of domestic production by its Sudanese subsidiary, Blue Nile Cigarette
Company (BNCC).
The subsidiary’s establishment lies in Madani, a city that has seen intense violence during the brutal civil
war in Sudan.