Chairperson and hon members, thank you very much for your consideration. I apologise for being late. It indeed gives me great honour to be here today to participate in the Second Reading debate on the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill.
The Bill proposes amendments to improve the implementation of the Act and also takes into account new and emerging tobacco industry practices designed to circumvent the objects of the Act.
The Act is also amended to bring it into compliance with the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which South Africa has ratified.
The Bill further proposes a number of related and consequential amendments to the Act, which are designed to promote health and prevent disease.
The main provisions of the Bill are to amend the current Act so as to strengthen the sections which prohibit advertising, promotion and sponsorship; remove misleading package descriptions like light and mild; control the ingredients in, and the emissions from tobacco products; and increase penalties for breaking the law.
After approval by Cabinet, the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill was gazetted in October 2003 for public comment. Over 2 000 submissions on the Bill were received from individual members of the public, the tobacco industry, its associate and health organisations. The majority supported the proposed amendments to the Bill.
However, some submissions, mainly from the tobacco and associated industries, made alternate proposals that were not necessarily in line with the objectives of the Bill. The Bill has therefore been amended, taking into consideration the comments that were received.
One of the challenges in the implementation of the current Act has been related to limitations in the definition of some of the provisions of the Act. The Bill before this House therefore seeks to amend those definitions that were posing a challenge in the present tobacco legislation, as well as to insert some new definitions to extend the application of the Tobacco Products Control Act and to close loopholes that exist in the present tobacco legislation.
Building from the success we have had in restricting smoking in public places like restaurants and workplaces, the Bill seeks to further protect the rights of employees and to protect them from intimidation.
The protection of children has been our main focus of tobacco control interventions. This strategic focus is based on the understanding that young people are the main area of focus for the marketing of tobacco products. The assumption is that once young people are hooked onto this addictive habit, they will provide a sustainable market for tobacco products, probably for the rest of their lives.
This Bill therefore seeks to protect children by prohibiting the entry of anyone less than 18 years old into a designated smoking area. It also empowers the Minister to prohibit or restrict smoking in schools and in sports stadiums, which are the places where we want our young people to spend much of their time.
We are strengthening our enforcement of tobacco control measures by clarifying the mandate of municipalities and health officers to enforce the Tobacco Products Control Act and the regulations issued in terms thereof.
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control also provides us with a mandate to collaborate with other countries in our tobacco control interventions. In line with the mandate, the Bill seeks to prescribe standards for the manufacturing and export of tobacco products, with special consideration given to those countries of destination where products and testing standards do not exist.
More importantly, the Bill increases the penalties so that they become a real deterrent against contravention of the Act. We want to send a clear message to all those who are bent on finding ways to undermine our tobacco control efforts that we will act decisively in the face of contravention.
Hon members, it is important to emphasise that tobacco is deadly in any form or disguise. Therefore, as policy-makers, we have an obligation to prohibit the misleading terms relating to labelling on tobacco packaging such as ... [Interjections.]