Bill must consider economic impact

The government should be cautious that the proposed Bill for the control of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems does not extinguish the informal sector, leading to job losses and dire economic impacts.

The Bill includes provisions that introduce plain packaging, ban point-of-sale advertising and displays and scrap the sale of single cigarettes.

Understandably so, the Bill will burden farmers, tobacco production companies and distributors. But the impact will also be felt at the end of the stick by the informal traders.

If history has taught us anything, bans on tobacco marketing are among the least effective tactics for combating underage smoking. The Tobacco Atlas research shows that more than 55 000 children between the ages of 10 and 14 years of age smoke, and that 6.3 million people aged 15 and older smoked on a daily basis.

The Bill will have significant

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impact on the informal economy. We are living in a country where the number of unemployed is over six million.

David Maila

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