The Department of Health said it supported a single, consolidated tobacco regulatory framework.
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Big tobacco industry’s push for regulatory separation between cigarettes and non-combustion nicotine products was shot down yesterday by the National Department of Health (NDoH) which however agreed to consider new clauses on dealing with illicit trade.
The Department of Health said it supported a single, consolidated tobacco regulatory framework, saying in parliament that there are no benefits to “coming up with many pieces of legislation” that will require separate legislative processes.
“We can put all tobacco and related products in one Bill and if there is a need to differentiate between them, we can do so in different sections of the same Act. This clearly does not call for separate legislation,” said the department in response to issues raised by stakeholders.
It added that differentiation could be achieved within different sections of the same proposed legislation.
Some legislators said that South Africa had failed to implement tobacco control measures, including excise duties that would have helped to reduce smoking and associated risks. The department had insisted its responses that “here is successful implementation” of the current tobacco control laws in South Africa.
The tobacco bill has been controversial and topical in South Africa over the past few months as industry and the government haggled over issues such as illicit trade, advertising and marketing of tobacco products as well as access by children to tobacco products.
The contentious issue of lax regulation and enforcement of measures to curb proliferation of illicit tobacco products had been discussed extensively by stakeholders under the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). This has prompted the Department of Health to make new concessions, saying on Wednesday that it will institute a new clause addressing illicit trade into the new bill.
This provision will require the Minister of Health to support all efforts to eradicate illicit trade in tobacco and related products, working in collaboration with other organs of state.
Despite this, the Department of Health refuted industry representations that vaping and nicotine-containing products should be recognised as harm reduction tools on the basis that they are non-combustible.
“People who vape, vape regularly,” the Department noted, suggesting that usage patterns reinforce addiction rather than reduce harm.
Furthermore, the Department of Health described flavours as one of the most effective tactics used by the industry to attract new users, particularly adolescents and children. It rejected lobbying by the South Africa tobacco industry for exemptions to allow for new generation products to be marketed through various media platforms, including online advertising and sales channels, warning that such exemptions would perpetuate indiscriminate marketing, especially to young people.
Under the Bill, South African vendors will be permitted to display a prescribed notice indicating that tobacco products are sold on the premises. However, the products have to be be kept in non-transparent containers, under or on top of tables.
Big tobacco companies such as BAT South Africa and Philip Morris South Africa are pushing for the incorporation of science based provisions, arguing that e-cigarettes and other smokeless tobacco products actually help to reduce harm from smoking. They also argue that adult smokers should be given a less harmful option to continue consuming nicotine at a time the World Health Organisation, which says smoking is harmful, is urging its use to be eliminated.
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