New smoking laws for South Africa are back
After lapsing at the end of the previous administration, the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill has been revived by Parliament for further processing.
Now sitting in Parliament and on the agenda of the seventh administration, the Bill was first introduced in the National Assembly back in December 2022.
According to the Bill, it intends to “strengthen public health protection measures’ by aligning prevailing tobacco control legislation with World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control imperatives.
It is proposed legislation that will regulate the sale, advertising, and use of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems.
Among other things, it seeks to:
- Impose stricter product and related product processing, manufacturing and import standards;
- Regulate tobacco product and electronic delivery system advertising;
- Standardise the ‘packaging and appearance’ of tobacco and electronic delivery system products;
- Prohibit smoking in all indoor public places as well as ‘certain outdoor areas’;
- Ban cigarette vending machines;
- Make ‘plain packaging with graphic health warnings and pictorials’ mandatory; and
- Ban the display of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems at points-of-sale.
The Bill’s revival has stoked mixed reactions.
Dr Sharon Nyatsanza of the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) said that the legislation represents a significant step towards promoting a healthier society.
“Strong tobacco control policy is central to reducing South Africa’s heavy burden of non-communicable diseases and will support sustainable implementation of [the] National Health Insurance,” by bringing domestic legislation closer to global standards, said Nyatsanza.
She added that the measures in the Bill “are set to reduce tobacco use, exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke as well as the initiation of tobacco use by young people.”
Lead investigator of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-South Africa (GATS-SA), Dr. Catherine Egbe of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) said that the findings of the research, which showed a high prevalence of tobacco usage across South Africa, “highlights the urgent need to pass the Bill as soon as possible.”
“GATS-SA indicates that 29.4% of those aged 15 years and up—equating to 12.7 million people—use tobacco, exposing themselves to severe health risks such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory disorders,” said Egbe.
“E-cigarette use among youth is also on the rise, raising concerns about nicotine addiction and long-term health implications, especially for young people whose brains can be impacted by nicotine,” she added.
Speaking about the rise of e-cigarette usage among the youth, a youth advocate from the South African Tobacco-Free Youth Forum, Lesego Mateme, said “it is clear that the youth are the targets of the aggressive marketing tactics of the tobacco and e-cigarette industries.”
“Tobacco and emerging tobacco products should be viewed as threats to our generation,” said Mateme.
Dr Egbe said that the measures proposed in the Bill are an effective strategy to reduce tobacco and e-cigarette use and should be urgently implemented, along with tax increases.
“Our government has all the research available to support every evidence-based measure in the Bill, and should not be swayed by misinformation,” said Egbe.
Not everyone is on board
The National Assembly Health Committee under the previous Parliament called for written submissions on the bill. Nationwide public hearings were then held, ending in December 2023.
During that process, committee media statements on the outcomes of several hearings tended to point to widespread in-principle support for the Bill’s health-related objectives.
However, at a more practical level, numerous pressing concerns were raised.
These included:
- Possible job losses in the industry should manufacturers downsize in the face of more onerous, costly regulatory requirements;
- The consequential likelihood of increased trade in illicit tobacco products;
- A possible reduction in tax revenue from the production and sale of legal tobacco products and electronic delivery systems;
- Inadequate attention to the Bill’s implications for small and informal traders (especially those selling single cigarettes);
- Inadequate attention to the Bill’s implications for tobacco farmers (especially small-scale and emerging farmers); and
- Inadequate monitoring and enforcement capacity.
According to Statista, revenue from the legal cigarettes market in South Africa will amount to an estimated R268 billion in 2024.
While the cigarette market in South Africa remains prevalent, its illicit trade has boomed, and those against the Bill believe that such legislation could fuel even further growth.
The South African government has lost an estimated R119 billion in excise and Value-Added Tax (VAT) revenue between 2002 and 2022 as a result of the country’s sprawling illicit cigarette market.
In 2022 alone, R15 billion was lost in excise revenue and R3 billion in VAT revenue.
This is according to a recent study by Nicole Vellios and Corné van Walbeek from the Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products at the University of Cape Town.
According to the study, the illicit cigarette market made up 5% of the country’s cigarette market in 2009. In 2022, it was 58%, a slight decrease from its peak of 60% in 2021.
During several public hearings, the SA Legal Academy said calls were made for the Bill to be sent to the National Economic Development and Labour Council for more robust consultation.
“In addition, it appears that no socio-economic impact assessment was ever conducted.”
“With those issues in mind, it remains to be seen how the new National Assembly Health Committee proceeds,” said the SA Legal Academy.
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