Both sides fired up over smoking regulations (South Africa)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Both sides fired up over smoking regulations
Source: Sunday Times (SA), Sunday, 12/5/99

JUSTICE MALALA HEALTH Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and the tobacco
industry are squaring up for yet another major fight after she released
tough anti-smoking regulations on Friday - and the result may be decided
in the Constitutional Court.

However, the minister's director for health promotion, Blanche Pitt,
yesterday warned that the government had the "moral obligation to promote
the health of the people of South Africa" and would defend the regulations
to the hilt.

This follows the branding of the new laws - which come into effect in
three months - as "draconian" by Edward Shalala, the chief executive of
the Tobacco Institute of South Africa. Shalala said yesterday that
although the organisation had not yet discussed the new regulations,
several aspects seemed to flout former President Nelson Mandela's concerns
that the Tobacco Bill could be unconstitutional.

Shalala said the regulations seemed to have "serious legal problems" and
were the most serious infringement on personal liberties since 1994.

Mandela earlier this year referred the Tobacco Bill back to Parliament
because he was concerned that several of its clauses may be
unconstitutional.

The new regulations say:No smoking will be allowed in offices, bars,
restaurants, nightclubs and other public places unless there is a
designated smoking area separated by a solid partition;Existing contracts
in tobacco sponsorships will be allowed to continue for two years from
April 14 this year. At least 30 percent of all print advertisements should
consist of health warnings, while for every three electronic
advertisements, there should be one health message of equal length
sponsored by the advertiser;Print and electronic media advertisements
should contain only written words, numbers and brand names - no pictures.
Print ads should be in black and white only;Only one point of sale for
tobacco would be allowed in any single retail outlet; andThe introduction
of a maximum 15mg tar and 1,5mg nicotine content per cigarette as from
December 31 2000. This will be reduced to 12mg tar and 1,2mg nicotine per
cigarette from December 31 2002.

Shalala said the regulations did not allow for the phasing out of tobacco
sponsorship but instead seemed to summarily "nullify" sponsorship
contracts. This was not what the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act
had prescribed. "It is a de facto ban," he said.

Pitt said research results showed that youngsters were highly influenced
by tobacco sponsorship of sports events. "We have followed the World
Health Organisation's regulations on this," she said.

She said claims by Shalala that tourists would be put off by the smoking
regulations were laughable. "Most tourists who come here from Europe and
the US have those laws in their countries," she said.