.As parliament considers the government’s proposals for tightening tobacco laws and regulating e-cigarettes, an international conference has highlighted that the legislative process may be vulnerable to industry influence.
The World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin has cast the spotlight on the obligations placed on signatories to the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which SA ratified in 2005. But SA has yet to breathe life into article 5.3, which requires signatories to protect policymaking from industry interference.
SA thus has no code of conduct to govern the interactions between government officials, MPs and the judiciary with the tobacco industry, while MPs are processing the draft Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill.
Parliament’s health portfolio committee is holding public hearings on the bill. The hearings are open to the public but MPs are under no obligation to disclose who they meet outside this public participation process, or the outcome of such meetings.
Parliament’s code of conduct for MPs requires them to disclosure their interests, gifts received, and any remunerated work conducted outside parliament, but it places no obligation on them to report who they interact with. They are thus not required to disclose any dealings with the tobacco industry while they are considering the bill.
“It leaves it [the process] hugely vulnerable to interference,” said Peter Ucko, CEO of the Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling Advisory Advocacy and Action Group (TAG). The rights of freedom of expression and freedom of association should not trump public health considerations, he said.
Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, director of the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research, said SA’s failure to implement article 5.3 was a major hindrance to policy development.
It was important that it be applied to the whole of government, and not just the health ministry, he said.
SA’s draft bill does not contain any specific provisions to implement article 5.3, a stark contrast to Ireland, which started implementing it in 2017.
“Article 5.3 remains one of the most critical tools that we have. We take it very seriously. We do not consult with the tobacco industry on policy for health,” said Irish health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. “I have not, nor will I ever, meet representatives from the tobacco industry.”
New guidance has been issued to ensure all public representatives — not just those working in health — understood and upheld their responsibilities under the convention, she said.
Peru has incorporated article 5.3 into national legislation too.
“The law regulates industry interference by establishing a transparent dynamic between public officials and the private sector [to prioritise] public health policy over commercial interests,” Flavia Radovic, president of that country’s National Commission for the Fight Against Tobacco, told delegates.
Peru’s efforts to enact tobacco control legislation had faced numerous delays due to industry opposition, including intense lobbying from vaping industry associations seeking more lenient regulations, she said.
SA MPs are facing similar industry pressure, with the local vaping industry calling for differentiated regulation for tobacco products and e-cigarettes, whereas the bill treats all these products equally.
The health department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, said the interaction of its officials with the tobacco industry was guided by the department of public service and administration’s code of conduct on transparency and disclosure, which applied to all government employees.
When asked whether the department had any concerns about tobacco industry interference in the bill’s passage through parliament, he said: “Since parliament carries out policy and legislative functions, and represents all South Africans, it engages with everyone. While interference by the tobacco industry is possible, the department relies on the conscience of legislators.”
Tobacco industry tactics featured prominently at the conference, with speakers drawing attention to the ways that companies exploit regulatory loopholes to aggressively market nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches to young people.
The tobacco industry has a growing presence in emerging digital spaces, according to researchers from Vital Strategies, a global public organisation. Their analysis of tobacco promotion in India, Indonesia and Mexico found brands were leveraging immersive technologies such as virtual concerts, branded avatars, and digital storefronts to promote tobacco products
“Vital Strategies’ digital monitoring tool, Canary, shows the tobacco industry trying everything online to reach new users, tapping into their vast marketing budgets to place advertising in every corner of the internet where regulations are weakest,” said Nandita Murukutla, vice-president for behavioural insights and evaluation.
“As digital platforms become the primary spaces where young people learn, socialise and play, we urgently need co-ordinated international action to modernise safeguards and close regulatory gaps before a new generation is exposed to harm,” she said.
• Kahn’s reporting trip was sponsored by the conference organisers, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
Update: June 27 2025
This story was updated with comment by the health department.
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