Parliament’s health committee began hearing oral submissions on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill on Wednesday, beginning with input from an advocacy group campaigning against tobacco, alcohol and gambling addiction.
“The industry has only one objective — to make profits to pay dividends to their shareholders. It doesn’t matter how many people they kill on the way,” said Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling Advisory Advocacy and Action Group (TAG) CEO Peter Ucko.
MPs have already completed public hearings on the bill in all nine provinces and called for written submissions. More than 60 stakeholders who made written submissions have asked to present their input directly to the committee as well.
The bill proposes tightening the current restrictions on tobacco, and brings e-cigarettes and other new-generation products into the regulatory net for the first time. Among its measures are a ban on smoking and vaping in public spaces, the introduction of plain packaging with graphic health warnings and the prohibition of vending machines. It will also ban the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of vapes and tobacco-related products.
Ucko urged MPs to be wary of industry tactics intended to delay or dilute the bill’s provisions, which TAG supports. Half of all tobacco smokers die prematurely, he said.
TAG suggested changes to the wording of the draft bill to ensure it achieved its aim, said Ucko. These include broadening the scope of businesses that fall under its ambit from retailers and wholesalers to importers as well, and allowing the government to put “messages” — such as warnings about the costs of smoking — on tobacco product packaging in addition to health warnings.
The DA’s Michele Clark questioned whether the facts presented by Ucko were based on science and peer-reviewed research, and called for the committee to be briefed by scientists on the health risks associated with electronic devices.
She asked Ucko for his view on illicit cigarettes, which she said constituted 70% of the market, without citing a source for the figure.
UCT researchers have previously said a 70% figure quoted by British American Tobacco (BAT) overstates the size of the illicit cigarette market, but agree the fiscus loses billions of rand a year due to untaxed cigarette sales. A peer-reviewed study published by UCT’s Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products in the British Medical Journal last year estimated the government lost R17.6bn in excise and VAT revenue due to to the illicit trade, which it estimated was 58% of the market.
“The harm of legal or illegal cigarettes is irrelevant — they all kill you,” said Ucko.
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