South Africa Tobacco Bill Under Review (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

TOBACCO CONTROL BILL RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT 
PRETORIA July 15 1998 Sapa

     The Tobacco Control Bill to outlaw general tobacco advertisements had
been released for public comment, the
     Health Department said in a statement in Pretoria on Wednesday. 

     It said the Bill proposed tobacco advertising should only appear on
tobacco products, and that the use of such
     products as gifts or cash prizes be banned. 

     The department said South African teenagers were daily being bombarded
with messages suggesting that smoking
     was part of an attractive, healthy, successful and fun-loving lifestyle. 

     "The health warning on packages and advertisements have very little
impact against this tide of misinformation." 

     Director of health promotion Dr Gonda Perez said young people tended to
ignore these warnings. 

     "We, therefore, need to act against advertising which encourages young
people to see smoking as a symbol of
     independence, a way to boost self-esteem and self-confidence," she said. 

     Public comment on the Bill should reach the department before August 14. 

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source: gopher://gopher.anc.org.za/00/anc/newsbrief/1998/news0716 
processed Thu 16 Jul 1998 09:56 SAST. 


NP URGES GOVT TO APPROACH TOBACCO LEGISLATION CAREFULLY 
CAPE TOWN July 16 1998 Sapa

     Draft legislation on the control of tobacco products promised to be one
of the most controversial and
     emotionally-laden issues in a long time and should be approached in a
multi-disciplinary way, the National Party
     said on Thursday. 

     The Bill approved by Cabinet this week raised more questions than
answers, NP health spokesman Kobus Gous
     said in a statement. 

     The Bill sought to declare smoking in public places a criminal offence
and would ban tobacco advertising in all
     forms, including sports sponsorships. 

     This development threatened the loss of thousands of jobs in
tobacco-related industries, as well as the marketing
     and advertising industries, Gous said. 

     In this highly emotional environment, important principles could be
compromised or even abandoned. 

     The proposed legislation raises more questions than it answers: 

     - Where did one draw the line between individual rights and community
interests; 

     - Could South Africa, still struggling to establish first-generation
human rights, afford to spend so much energy and
     money on so-called third-generation rights; 

     - If tobacco products were under strict control for health reasons, why
not cholesterol in foodstuffs on
     supermarket shelves, once you started, where did you draw the line; 

     - What weighed heaviest: loss of tax income, job opportunities and
social upliftment with tobacco money, or
     health costs ascribed to tobacco; 

     - Which statistics were to be believed; 

     - Must tobacco control be applied in one fell swoop, or should it be
phased in, as was the case in most countries;
     and 

     - What was the effect of tobacco advertisements: did it make a person
start smoking, or was it intended to
     persuade a smoker to change from one brand to another. 

     Gous said the NP accepted that tobacco had a negative impact on health
and that it required the attention of the
     legislator. 

     "Having said that, we also believe that from an economic perspective
this legislation will cause more harm than
     good. 

     "The threatened loss of thousands of existing jobs and the negative
impact on the creation of new job
     opportunities in the myriad of industries with a stake in the tobacco
industry (including farmers, market research,
     advertising, media, sponsorships, sport,) is incalculable, and not
desirable under current economic circumstances."

     The NP believed it was not only a health question and that it should be
approached as such. 

     Because there were many aspects, for instance financial/cost
implications, commercial and industrial complications
     and the impact on sport and other sponsorships, the party believed that
multidisciplinary steps should be
     considered. 

     "In other words, all interested parties should be heard and properly
consulted, and there should be measures to
     ensure a proper transparency of process with the accommodation of
divergent viewpoints and needs," Gous said. 


source: http://www.anc.org.za/anc/newsbrief/1998/news0717 
processed Fri 17 Jul 1998 06:03 EDT by Omar C. Jadwat (newswire@bibim.com). 


GOVERNMENT TO FACE OPPOSITION TO TOBACCO LAWS 
JOHANNESBURG July 17 1998 Sapa

     Organised business and industry has joined opposition politicians on
Friday in condemning government's
     proposed tobacco law, saying it was unconstitutional. 

     The new Tobacco Control Bill, which is due to be presented to
Parliament during the next session, will ban
     advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products. 

     In a statement, executive director of the Freedom of Commercial Speech
Trust Piet Delport said the law is a
     direct infringement of constitutional rights of expression. 

     Delport said: "These proposals are in direct contravention of the
fundamental right of freedom of expression, and
     the rights of the consumer to receive information, as in Section 16 of
the Constitution." 

     He said consumers needed more information, not less, in order to make
an informed choice. 

     "It is incomprehensible that an Act is proposed that was found to be
unconstitutional in Canada, a country on
     which our freedom of expression provisions are based. 

     "The ban on tobacco sponsorships will cause problems in the case of
contracts for the broadcasting of sports, and
     we should at least, like the proposals in Canada, consider a phasing-in
period." 

     He added that empirical studies on various products had shown that
advertising bans did not not have the effect of
     reducing consumption, but in fact promoted it. 

     The trust was formed in March 1997 by the marketing communications
industry and organised business, and
     promotes consumer rights. 

     Responding to Delport, Health Department spokesman Vincent Hlongwane
said: "We hope the new Tobacco Bill
     will be scrutinised by Parliament during the next few months, and we
think a confrontational attitude will be
     extremely unhelpful." 

     Hlongwane added the government was only trying to protect South African
children from dangers associated with
     smoking. 

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source: gopher://gopher.anc.org.za/00/anc/newsbrief/1998/news0718