The department of health has made a concession to have non-combustible and smokeless tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco, snus, nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes, be exempt from the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill.
In the same breath, on Wednesday during a parliamentary committee meeting, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the belief that the new generation of nicotine products could be applied as a harm-reduction strategy was based on incorrect claims that smokers cannot or will not quit smoking.
“The premise is wrong. In reality, the majority of smokers dislike being nicotine dependent and want to quit,” he said.
Deputy director-general for primary healthcare Jeanette Hunter said the exempted products did not involve combustion and differed from smoked tobacco in that they contained fewer toxic chemicals. “The department is willing to, at this stage, exempt them from packaging and labelling requirements except for making misleading and false claims.”
Hunter said that to protect children, there was a need to regulate the type (nicotine edibles), shape (products that look like toys) and misleading descriptors of these products. “Plain packaging does not eliminate anti-counterfeit safeguards such as a tax stamp, unique identifiers, track and tracing markings, security inks, covert markings and digital authentication codes.”
One of the contentious areas of the bill is that the regulations might interfere with cultural and spiritual rights when it comes to the consumption and use of tobacco products.
Vuyo Zungula, from ATM, raised concerns that the department was not clear in this regard. “When the minister says the bill does not ban the use of snuff or similar products for any purpose, it does not disturb the cultural practices. But I don’t think it is sufficient, particularly because advertising bans, display restrictions, packaging requirements and sales restrictions practically apply to snuff and other traditional tobacco products unless explicitly exempted.”
Motsoaledi said he was not aware of combustible products in a cultural context.
“I’m not aware of any combustible product that is used culturally and spiritually. I’m not aware of it. That there are people who smoke cigarettes. The one which I know is used religiously is what you call marijuana, used by Rastafarians,” said Motsoaledi.
“But I don’t know any other cultural aspect where smoking becomes part of culture. But I know snuff, yes, I agree wholeheartedly, and I thought we have put it down there and exempted it. If we did not do so enough, we’ll definitely do,” he said.
Philippus van Staden of the Freedom Front Plus said he was concerned about the shortage of law enforcement officers to ensure the success of the regulations, something the department of police admitted to last year. He also raised concerns about border management.
“You must take into account when you table a new bill or law, that you are obliged by law and the public participation policy framework to consult with stakeholders in that relevant industry and with the public,” Van Staden said.
Hunter said people were not allowed to smoke in taxis, cinemas, restaurants, stadia and mass meetings. “Those present enforce this [if there are no police present] because the majority of South Africans appreciate clean air,” she said.
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