Arecanut body wants focused enforcement of nicotine ban

Mangaluru: S R Satishchandra, President of the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited (CAMPCO), has taken cognisance of the Government of Karnataka Notification of 10 August 2026 and the Press Note released by the Office of the Commissioner, Food Safety and Drug Administration, Karnataka, on 12 August 2026 on the prohibition of tobacco and nicotine containing products.

The Food Safety and Drugs Administration Department has affirmed that rigorous enforcement is being pursued for public-health reasons against items containing tobacco and nicotine. Special inspections cover manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of gutkha, pan masala and other forbidden products with tobacco and/or nicotine.

Issued under Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, read with Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, the notification bars sale and distribution of such products throughout Karnataka for one year from its date of issue in the interest of public health.

CAMPCO acknowledges the Government’s public-health objective and the requirement for firm action against the banned products. Simultaneously the organisation urges the Government and concerned authorities to guarantee that implementation leaves the interests of arecanut growers and the lawful arecanut

trade unharmed.

According to S R Satishchandra, arecanut constitutes an important plantation crop and a major livelihood base for large numbers of farmers in Karnataka and beyond. “CAMPCO respects the Government’s public-health purpose and the steps taken against tobacco- and nicotine-containing products, yet a sharp distinction must be maintained between arecanut as an agricultural commodity and the prohibited items,” the press release said.

“Enforcement ought to concentrate solely on those banned products and must not produce unintended repercussions for arecanut growers or legitimate trade. Cultivators should not be burdened by consequences stemming from the use or misuse of their agricultural produce in tobacco- or nicotine-containing goods,” it said. CAMPCO therefore requests the Government and enforcement bodies to limit application of the prohibition exclusively to the products specified in the notification and to refrain from imposing any indirect restraints on arecanut as an agricultural commodity or on its cultivation, procurement,

processing and trade.