Plain packaging and vaping restrictions on the table in South African tobacco bill

South Africa’s upcoming Tobacco Products and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Control Bill could finally bring the country’s regulations into line with World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) guidelines, 20 years after the country signed up to them.

The bill was tabled in Parliament in December and is now to be discussed and potentially amended by the Portfolio Committee. As it stands it would require plain packaging and ban the display of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, along with claims for those products. It would also put in place public smoking and vaping prohibitions.