Cape Town - Cigarette smokers and vapers are set to choke at the news that government is pressing ahead with a host of new laws that include a proposed ban on advertising and a 100% ban on smoking indoors.
The Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill of 2018 was given the green light for submission to Parliament last month and that if the new bill comes into play, smoking indoors, in a car or at home in the presence of a non-smoker will be illegal.
The Bill is designed to address key areas relating to indoor public areas, display of tobacco products at point of sale, use of electronic devices and the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products.
Should the bill be passed, smokers will have to pay more consideration towards non-smokers and it will also put a choke-hold on the booming e-cigarette and vaping industry.
The bill’s explanatory summary says it provides for 100% smoke-free for indoor public places and “certain outdoor areas as the minister may prescribe”.
It also advocates a ban on the sale of cigarettes through vending machines; plain packaging with graphic health warnings or pictorials and a ban on display at point-of-sale.
This also means stricter rules for use, sales and marketing of e-cigarettes.
The 2008 Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, which is currently in force, has not been updated in over a decade and therefore contains no provisions to regulate new-generation products such as vapes.
News that the Cabinet had approved the submission of the bill to Parliament has been welcomed by health organisations forming part of the Protect Our Next coalition as “a major milestone for tobacco control in South Africa”.
The organisations, which include the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS), the South African Medical Research Council, the Cancer Association of South Africa, the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa and the South African Tobacco Free Youth Forum (SATFYF) said they were hopeful the bill would become law next year.
University of Pretoria School of Health Systems and Public Health head, Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, who also heads NCAS, said passing the bill would reduce exposure and delay initiation of young people as smokers.
South African Medical Research Council scientist, Dr Catherine Egbe, said evidence from last year’s Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted in South Africa, which showed 29.4% of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure, supported the implementation of the Bill.
The African Tobacco Control Alliance (ACTA) said the Bill had been in the works since 2018 when it was announced by then deputy health minister Joe Phaahla in 2020. Phaahla is now the minister.
So how long before the bill can become law? The Protect Our Next coalition said: “At this point, the bill is a public document and anyone can access it, once gazetted.”
The coalition said once the bill got to Parliament it would be perused by the Speaker before going to the Health Portfolio Committee, which would call for parliamentary public hearings and vote on it.
The Bill would then be tabled before the National Assembly for a vote. If passed, it would go to the National Council of Provinces, then for provincial public hearings.
Five of the nine provinces must support it before it can be signed into law by the president.