REEP's response to the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill

Recently the South African government called for the public to comment on the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill. REEP prepared detailed comments that were submitted today, 1 August 2023. This Bill has been gathering dust for nearly five years. It will replace the Tobacco Products Control Act of 1993, and its subsequent amendments. Should this bill be passed it will align South Africa’s tobacco control legislation with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

In the submission, REEP noted that following an assessment of the available evidence on each of the Bill’s proposed legislative changes, the bill should be "accepted as is". In 2016, REEP conducted a comprehensive 280 page study which was an input to the subsequent socio-economic assessment on the new bill done by the National Department of Health.

The main aspects of the proposed legislation are the following:

• Ban smoking in all indoor public places and certain outdoor areas,
• Ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines;
• Implement plain packaging with graphic health warnings;
• Ban the display of tobacco products at point-of-sale; and
• Regulate electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS) as tobacco products.

In the submission, Prof. Corné van Walbeek (REEP Director) articulates the hope that the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill will be implemented without delay, as it is well overdue, and in the meantime, the death toll associated with tobacco use remains unacceptably high.

Read the full submission.