South African vapers would have felt the pinch last Thursday when the new sin tax kicked in, more than doubling the price of vaping products, regardless of nicotine content.
Industry stakeholders said the price of some e-liquids would have rocketed by as much as 217%, reports TimesLIVE Premium.
The tax is being rolled out ahead of the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, approved by Cabinet in October, aimed at regulating the sale and advertising of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems.
The goal is to ban the sale of tobacco products and e-cigarettes to children, and the sale of tobacco products or e-cigarettes through vending machines. It will also regulate the use of flavours in e-cigarettes.
Vapour Products Association of SA (Vpasa) CEO Asanda Gcoyi previously told Business Day the excise tax would devastate the industry.
Industry stakeholders insist vaping is a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes, and that the move would encourage consumers to rather buy illicit (and cheaper) cigarette alternatives: banning tobacco products and alcohol during lockdown failed to stop people from accessing these, and instead, created further opportunities for the illicit market to thrive, they said.
“The tobacco market is now dominated by the illicit tobacco cigarettes, resulting in government losing revenue, and affected jobs in the tobacco supply chain, and ultimately, increasing the burden on public health systems,” said the association in January.
Meanwhile, further afield, Canadian smokers will soon be reminded of the dangers of tobacco with every puff.
The country, a pioneer in anti-smoking messaging, will be the world’s first to require manufacturers to print warnings directly on individual cigarettes, reports The Washington Post.
On World Tobacco Day last Wednesday, officials announced that from next year, cigarettes packaging will bear one of six messages in English and French. They include “Tobacco harms children,” “Poison in every puff” and “Smoking causes impotence”.
Around 48 000 Canadians die as a result of tobacco use each year, according to Health Canada – more than deaths from alcohol, opioids, suicides, murders and traffic collisions combined, with smoking costing the economy $16.2bn a year.
The country has a history of aggressive labelling against tobacco. In 2001, it was the first to require manufacturers to print graphic images of the physical damage from smoking, on cigarette packaging.
In 2019, it standardised cigarette width and length and required that all packages be an identical brown to avoid distraction from the health warnings.
In contrast, the US Food and Drug Administration didn’t require graphic warnings until 2020. The requirement has since been blocked by a federal judge.
Health Canada estimates that 13% of the population now smokes tobacco, down from 22.5% in 2001. The ministry aims to decrease usage to less than 5% by 2035.
TimesLIVE article – Vaping set to cost a lot more in SA as new sin tax kicks in (Open access)
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