Read articles from South Africa

October 11, 2022 by dailymaverick.co.za

While e-cigarette products have managed to evade regulatory oversight under South Africa’s Tobacco Products Control Act, the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, which Cabinet has approved for submission to Parliament, seeks to bring vaping products into the regulatory fold, in addition to tightening up on restrictions on tobacco cigarettes.  The long-awaited bill, approved for submission to Parliament on 21 September, will repeal the Tobacco Products Control Act of 1993 and seeks to align the country’s public health measures with the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Cabinet said.

October 10, 2022 by ewn.co.za

Local tobacco manufacturers say they are worried that the new bill aimed at curbing smoking could have the opposite effect.

The Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill seeks to change where people can smoke and how cigarettes are packaged.

But there are fears that tighter regulations could also see the legitimate tobacco industry go up in flames.

Independent tobacco manufacturers in the country believe that over-regulating the tobacco industry could impact the economy, leading to possible job losses and gives more power to the black market.

October 03, 2022 by regulatorwatch.com

While combustible tobacco use in the West continues to fall, catastrophe looms in Africa with exploding smoking rates and growing resistance to safer nicotine products.

*Guest: Chimwemwe Ngoma, Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocate, Africa, Assistant Program Manager, Knowledge-Action-Change

September 22, 2022 by businesstech.co.za

British American Tobacco South Africa says that the proposed excise duty on vaping products should be imposed on all “actors” equally to ensure fair competition and an equal playing field for all participants – however, prices would rise, it warned.

Speaking at a standing committee on finance, the tobacco giant represented by Dane Mouyis said that according to its own data, electronic vaping products account for less than 0.5% of the entire nicotine product market of South Africa.

May 30, 2022 by youtube.com

"We lack progressive policymaking [in Africa]. The 'quit or die' approach is not working. We need to look at other options. (...) Nicotine is not the enemy; it does not cause cancer. Policymakers need to look at other products [safer nicotine alternatives] that can help smokers to quit smoking. As well as helping the farmers to diversify their crops in a way that is beneficial to them." - Joseph Magero, Chairman of Campaign for Safer Alternatives (CASA).

April 29, 2022 by standardmedia.co.ke

New proposals to raise excise tax on nicotine products will push safer alternatives for smokers out of reach and help the black market thrive. [...] “Doubling the tax on vapes and nicotine pouches is the opposite of a cash cow. If anything, it will drain more money from the Treasury by forcing vapers into the black market,” said Casa chairman Joseph Magero on the proposals contained in the Finance Bill.

“Already, Kenya’s sky-high vaping taxes have created a thriving black market for vape products, with many shops selling un-taxed vapes in broad daylight.”

April 25, 2022 by mg.co.za

South Africa will impose a sin tax on vaping products from 2023.

Proponents of vaping products say that this could have a deadly effect on smokers who can’t quit.

Why?

Because sin taxes make products more expensive, which means many smokers won’t be able to afford the devices.

Instead, they’ll keep using cigarettes, which are deadly.

If such a policy goes through, the vaping lobby says the government will be guilty of a human rights violation akin to Aids denialism.

What is Aids denialism? Between 1999 to 2008, the South African government largely denied that Aids was a disease caused by a virus called HIV. [...]

March 24, 2022 by mg.co.za

Aids denialism — the government’s refusal to acknowledge HIV as the cause of Aids, and as a result provide people with HIV with lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment — may have cost at least a third of a million South Africans their lives.

[...]

Now lobbyists pushing for vaping as a way to help people quit smoking insist taxing e-cigarettes like traditional smokes is leading down a similar path.

The argument has been smouldering in different forms since 2018 when the health department announced its plans to regulate conventional cigarettes and next-generation products, such as vapes and heated-tobacco products, in the same way [...]

March 22, 2022 by businesstech.co.za

The Free Market Foundation has raised concerns about the government’s plans to regulate e-cigarette and vaping products, which it says could push more people towards traditional cigarettes and the illicit market.

The regulations will primarily be introduced through the draft Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill and new taxes, the think tank said.

“The South African government argues that e-cigarette and vaping products are harmful and warrant regulation. However, e-cigarettes and vaping innovations are tobacco harm-reduction products, aimed at mitigating the adverse health impacts associated with combustible tobacco products,” it said.

March 17, 2022 by africatimes.com

Public consultations recently closed on plans to impose an excise tax on e-cigarettes in South Africa, and the suggested policy proposals have already proven controversial. In particular, the South African government intends to introduce a new excise tax on e-cigarettes, applying the duty to both non-nicotine and nicotine solutions used in these devices. Thanks to piggybacking on existing policy guidelines related to other excisable products, users may expect to pay duties ranging from ZAR 33.60 to ZAR 346.00 per item, depending on the nicotine content and size of different products, an amount which could even be higher than the excise tax on a pack of cigarettes.