By Johnathan Paoli
The majority of residents of the greater eThekwini metro have rejected the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, raising concerns about it creating unemployment.
Parliament’s health portfolio committee chair Sibongiseni Dhlomo said that during public hearings on the proposed legislation, participants rejected the Bill due to the possibility of over-regulation directly impacting the industry’s ability to create employment opportunities.
They said the Bill could result in the entire tobacco industry value chain suffering disastrous job losses and would likely affect tobacco leaf farmers, retailers and logistics companies that transport tobacco products.
Dhlomo said the consultations emphasised that small-scale traders would be unduly affected by the intention to ban the display of tobacco products on the points of sale as they depended on marketing their goods to attract interest from their markets.
He said the participants remained concerned over the potential of the Bill to infringe on the right to choose that was guaranteed by the Constitution.
There was also apprehension over the lack of clear enforcement protocols, which could render the Bill futile and open the door for illicit trade.
“The uncertainty on the enforcement protocols in the Bill was also raised as a serious shortcoming that was part of the reasons for rejection of the Bill by the majority of participants,” Dhlomo said on Monday.
He said that participants were concerned over the increasing pressure within the industry from illicit markets that deprived the SA Revenue Service of additional tax revenue, while the vaping industry stressed the inadequacy of the Bill to effectively accommodate their particular industry and challenges.
They called for a separate legislation that will assist in the regulation of the vaping industry, stressing the potentially positive and harm reduction properties of their products.
On the opposite side, supporters of the Bill argued that the disadvantages for the tobacco industry far outweighed the benefits, and the current burden to the healthcare system from tobacco consumption induced ailments negated the tax contributions made to the national fiscus.
“There were also concerns that the increasing consumption of hookah pipes by the youth would lead to a sick future society as those within the electronic delivery systems industry were not forthcoming about the contents of these systems,” he said.
The chair said despite KZN being the last province to hold public hearings on the Bill, the committee had resolved to hold additional single public hearings in both the Free State and Western Cape.
“This decision was necessitated by the fact that the Portfolio Committee on Health of the 6th Parliament held only two public hearings in those provinces for varying reasons. To bring these provinces on par with other provinces where three public hearings were held, we will hold the third outstanding legs in each province,” Dhlomo said.
Following the hearings, the committee is expected to interact with the health department regarding the process and expressed its gratitude to the contributions from participants in the province.
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