You can’t buy one cigarette stick; only packets
The Tobacco Control Bill will affect mostly smokers if it is passed into law. FILE Photo
What you need to know:
Implementing the law. This is one of the rules the newly passed Tobacco Control Bill 2014 seeks to enforce, once the President signs it into law. But how possible is it to ensure that people across the country buy cigarettes in packs? We look at this and other key issues in the Bill, and how the governing authority plans to implement the law
The Tobacco Control Bill 2014 has been one of the highly contentious Bills in Parliament. On July 28, Parliament passed it and is awaiting the assent of the President.
The Bill that was passed with amendments, was first presented in Parliament on March 2014 by Chris Baryomunsi as a Private Member’s Bill and was referred to the Committee on Health for further scrutiny and consultations with stakeholders.
It was later presented to the House for the second reading on July 14 by a new mover, Rosemary Nyakikongoro, and its passing into law comes after a prolonged debate in Parliament.
Why the need for a tobacco control law
The chairperson, Parliament’s committee on Health, Dr Medard Bitekyerezo, says the Tobacco control law is intended to discourage young people from using tobacco products.
“The law has a number of objectives and one of them is to protect young people from the effects of tobacco, we also want to protect non-smokers from the effects of secondhand smoke. We just wantto protect people.”
Additonally, Dr Sheila Ndyanabangi, the principal medical officer in charge of mental health and control of substance abuse at the Ministry of Health, says this law comes after the failure of the National Environment (Control of Smoking in Public Places) Regulations 2004 to prevent people from the effects of secondhand smoke.
She explains: “The only law we had was an environmental law against public smoking and even after its passing, the law was just shelved and it was never implemented mainly because there was no environmental police to do the implementation. Secondly, it was not comprehensive since it was introduced before the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) so it lacked many aspects. However, this new law is very comprehensive.”
Key points of the law
The law recommends 100 per cent smoke-free environments and it does not permit smoking within 50 metres from a public place. Article 10 (1 and 2) of the Bill reads, “Every person has a right to a tobacco smoke-free environment. A person consuming a tobacco product shall ensure that he or she does not expose another person to tobacco smoke.”
Article 11(1) goes on to state that, “A person shall not smoke in any part of any public place, workplace, or in any means of public transport as prescribed in the Second Schedule to this Act.”
The law also puts a total ban on the display of cigarettes at the point of sale and on advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco. Article 13(2a) explains, “A person shall not initiate any tobacco advertising, promotion, or sponsorship, including cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion or sponsorship.”
It also put a ban on the sale of cigarettes in public places like cinemas, educational institutions, public transport, health facilities, among others
The law goes on to state that there should be no sale of cigarettes to and by minors, where a minor is anyone below the age of 21 years. It therefore makes it criminal to buy a stick of cigarette as the law says it should be bought in a packet. This is intended to make it hard for children to access or afford it. It is also now illegal for a person below the age of 21 to access cigarettes. The law also bans the sale of duty free tobacco products.
It also prohibits the sale of shisha, electronic cigarettes, and chewable tobacco. It also incorporates Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC which completely safeguards public health from interference by the Tobacco Industry. It also demands 65 per cent pictorial health warnings of every tobacco packaging.
Penalties
Failure to comply with the provisions in this new law could lead to hefty punishment such as imprisonment exceeding not more than seven years or fines of not less than Shs4.5m or even both.
Additionally, Article 10(6b), the Bill states, “A person responsible for the premises, and any managing agent of such person who continuously contravenes subsections (2) and (3), shall have his or her license for the premise revoked by the authorised agency or such a premise shall be closed for a period of not less than six months.”
Implementation
Dr Ndyanabangi says at the moment, they are still coming up with regulations on how some provisions in the law will be implemented.
“According to the law, the President will assent to it in one month’s time. After that, some obvious provisions such as not smoking in public places will come into force. But some provisions that need regulating such as the one on advertising, will get into force after six months.”
Dr Possy Mugyenyi, the manager of the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa (CTCA), says they are going to establish a committee on Tobacco Control and it will be in charge of overseeing the implementation of the law.
He adds, “We are also developing regulations for implementing different provisions of the law and these will be developed by the Ministry of Health.”
Dr Ndyanabangi explains that this process is underway, “The tobacco industry asked for six months to put everything in order and after that, the regulations we are working on such as the type of advertisement, health warning signs and labels will come into force. We are also working on the types of warning that need to be displayed in public places and we shall disseminate them to public and work places to help guide them on what to display. ”
Dr Mugyenyi adds that they are also going to train enforcement officers who are expected to come from different sections such as the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and health inspectors. “We shall train these groups on what the law says and how they can implement it. After the training, they will map out their activities,” Dr Mugyenyi explains adding.
“We are going to mainly concentrate in urban public places because this is where most of the tobacco related habits happen. We shall also train the general public about the law and also translate it to some major local languages such as Luganda and Runyankole among others because we want everyone to understand this law.”
Additionally, Dr Ndyanabangi says, “Unlike the law on public smoking that failed to take force because of its poor implementations, “We have already started telling the public about the provisions of the law. So they are aware. We are also going to work with the environmental police whose numbers have increased to ensure that the law is implemented.”
However, in an interview with a shopkeeper, Albert Musingunzi ,about the provisions of the Tobacco Control Bill, he said the law is good but some provisions like the one that bans the sale of one stick of cigarettes is inapplicable.
“Most people who come to my shop only want one or two sticks of cigarettes so if you tell me not to sell to such people, you are forcing me to stop selling cigarettes and yet I get some good money from them. So even with the law, I will continue selling one stick.”
But Dr Mugyenyi says, “The law only apprehends those found in the wrong. While we cannot be in all corners at the same time, at some point we shall get to all shops and if you are found breaking the law, you will be apprehended.”
BAT take
When asked about what they have to say about the law, British American Tobacco (BAT), corporate and regulatory affairs manager, Diana Apio, said: “We are not in position to give any detailed comment on the Bill and its full implications for our business at the moment, since we are yet to get the final details of the amended Bill that will be submitted to the President for assent.
She added, “We support sound regulation that is consultative, evidence-based, delivers its policy aims and factors in potential unintended consequences providing it doesn’t infringe on our legal rights as a business.”
“As a responsible corporate citizen, we always seek to operate responsibly and within the law. Our hope is that government will continue to involve key stakeholders, including the industry as it seeks to implement the law and in developing any subsidiary legislation.”
Meanwhile, Dr Mugyenyi advised the public to embrace the law. “We encourage the public to support the law because it is for their own good. We all want a healthy population and government needs to cut down on the money it spends on the treatment of diseases that arise from tobacco products.”
