AgriSA and community leaders warn of economic fallout from tobacco legislation
Thousands of rural households could lose their livelihoods if the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill is passed, AgriSA has warned.
In its parliamentary submission, AgriSA said the bill, in its current form, neglects to consider the broader implications on agricultural livelihoods. It said tobacco farming remained a vital income source for thousands of rural households, especially in provinces where alternative crops were not economically viable.
'We feel that good legislation is necessary to avoid harmful consequences that might not be foreseen in terms of the present bill. Our emphasis is on fixing what is wrong before we progress to further statutory requirements, the consequences of which have not been fully explored.
'We don't have a vested interest in smoking. We have a vested interest in a constructively regulated, purposeful, evidence-based bill that doesn't create the unforeseen consequence whereby we're supporting illegality through regulation, which is not appropriate to achieve the objective we all want to see achieved,' said AgriSA's Janse Rabie.
Rabie said tobacco production dropped by about 50% in five years.
'Why? Because illicit trade has eaten their market away. That's the bottom line and farmers ask the honest question to government: why has government allowed our market to be eaten away by illicit trade?
'If you want to really address the harm, you need to properly legislate the ability to enforce. We absolutely need to make sure that what is in place is properly enforced and that we don't carry on a system that is not working and is allowing for additional illegality to take place.'
Nedlac Community Trust CEO Nhlanhla Ndlovu said the issue of the Tobacco Bill was 'misguided from the point of view of not quantifying the impact to producers like farmers, with potential significant implications for the farmers, workers and communities they support'.
'It looks like there's an economic impact that will result in an inability, among affected farmers and communities, to make an income, but there's no viable replacement programme. You are taking away livelihoods in a context where crime stats are showing an increase across the board.'
ActionSA MP and harm reduction advocate Dr Kgosi Letlape added his voice, saying the bill seemed to condemn adult smokers to death while 'concentrating solely on issues of youth uptake, which are important, but the deaths don't come from the youth'.
He was also concerned about the impact on agriculture in SA. 'Should our agricultural sector be looking beyond our borders to progressive markets where their products could be used for less harmful sources of nicotine?
'My fear is not that the industry will die, it'll just be driven into the wrong hands.'
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