Vapers fear going up in smoke
THE vaping industry in South Africa could be decimated if the new tobacco bill becomes law, warned the Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA).
The government is determined to make smoking tougher in South Africa with its latest tobacco plan, which includes tighter regulations on e-cigarettes and vaping devices.
The Department of Health hopes the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill will discourage people from smoking and encourage users to quit.
Smoking or vaping in private in the presence of a child or non-smoker will be forbidden, and cigarette boxes will be limited to plain packaging with little branding.
In addition, campaigners say the bill would empower the minister of health to prohibit e-liquid or vape juice. VPASA CEO Asanda Gcoyi said if the bill became law, it could signal the end of the vaping industry here.
“The vaping industry as we know it in South Africa will be completely destroyed,” said Gcoyi. “The vaping industry was taken aback by the extensive revisions made to the bill since it was first published in 2018.
“While the Cabinet statement announcing the adoption of the bill noted that the Department of Health had conducted extensive consultations, it conveniently failed to state that other than anti-tobacco campaigners, no other stakeholders had seen a copy of the revised bill before it was gazetted on September 29. This is despite numerous requests for a copy made by industry stakeholders.”
Gcoyi said they weren’t against stricter laws, but they want regulations to be based on science.
“Proposals on the table are not based on science or empirical evidence. Substantively, the bill is a complete disappointment in its treatment of Ends/Ennds (electronic nicotine delivery systems). It will be detrimental to the industry.
“The bill still conflates vaping and smoking. Vaping requires a separate set of guidelines recognising it is not the same as smoking and therefore cannot be regulated in the same manner.
“It opens a route for government to ban the sale of flavoured e-liquids.
“Such a move is likely to prove entirely detrimental to the fight against tobacco smoking. Flavours are what keep smokers who have switched to vaping from reverting to smoking,” she said.
“The validity of arguments about fruit and dessert flavours appealing to young people entirely misses the fact that vapes are manufactured for the use of smokers. Communication and design should not be restricted except to prevent communications that target youth or misleads consumers. A general safety warning is important.”
Gcoyi added that banning the online sale, supply and distribution of vaping products would be detrimental.
“If you look at the majority of the vaping industry, (it is) small businesses, and brick-and-mortar (retailers) in any industry are no longer attractive, especially coming out of Covid. So, to do away with (online vaping stores), that kills a third of the industry already.”
Gcoyi said it was important that South Africa get legislation that allowed consumers to choose proven less harmful alternatives to cigarettes.
“Research by reputable international organisations such as Public Health England, the Royal College of Physicians, the US Academy of Sciences and Cancer Research UK, shows vaping is less harmful than smoking.”
Gcoyi said while she acknowledged that vaping was not completely riskfree, it presented a fraction of the risk of cigarettes. “Ends/Ennds do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke. The liquid and vapour, however, contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke, but at much lower levels.
“Additionally, despite a large body of scientific evidence suggesting that nicotine is dangerous on its own, it does not cause cardiovascular disease or cancer. The substance is, however, considered an addictive substance.”