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View allHeated tobacco and nicotine products in Africa
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Alerts
Our legal experts track the evolving regulation around the tobacco alternatives sector on a daily basis. These alerts are then compiled into our Monthly Round-up section.
27th March 2023
Egypt: The Senate has passed a bill on "Treating e-cigarettes and heated tobacco reciprocally with regular cigarettes'' during its plenary session today (27th March). Among others, the provisions of the bill include expanding the usage restrictions on e-cigarettes and prohibiting vaping in schools and universities to curb their prevalence among young people, press reports. The recommendations stipulated in the bill will be subject to the acceptance or rejection of the government since the Senate is a Consultative Council.3rd March 2023
- Egypt: Representative Ghada Ali, a member of the Nation’s Future Party (ruling party), said in a televised interview that a bill is being prepared to increase the fine for selling any tobacco product to under-age consumers. Currently, selling tobacco products to under-18s can lead to imprisonment of one year, a fine of between EGP100 ($3.25) and EGP1,000 ($32.50), forfeiture of materials and tools used in advertising or promotion, and possible closure of the plant or store subject to the breach.
2nd March 2023
- Egypt: Following a discussion on monitoring the sale of heated tobacco and vaping products, especially to minors, as well as enforcing the ban on advertising such products in stores and online, the House of Representatives Health Affairs Committee has demanded that a number of ministries and government agencies attend its next meeting for a briefing on the status of tobacco law enforcement, press reports.
27th February 2023
- Egypt: Tomorrow, 28th February, the Health Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives will discuss a briefing request submitted by Representative Ghada Ali on the monitoring of vaping and heated tobacco product sales to minors, in violation of the existing tobacco control laws, media reports. Ghada Ali – who is a member of the ruling party “Nation's Future Party" – noted earlier this year that vaping and heated tobacco products have a negative effect on mental and physical health, and called for stricter rules on monitoring places that sell them.
23rd February 2023
South Africa: The National Treasury, in its 2023 Budget Review, proposed a 4.9% increase in excise duty on heated tobacco sticks from ZAR14.87 ($0.81) to ZAR15.60 ($0.85) per pack of 20. The treasury said a tobacco review paper would be published later this year, following consultations on excise policies.
16th February 2023
Egypt: House of Representatives member Safaa Gaber Eada of the Homeland Defenders Party has written to the prime minister and the president of the Supreme Media Council, calling for a ban on TV dramas and movies showing the use of tobacco, press reports.
9th February 2023
Egypt: Health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar told a press conference that media companies were breaking the tobacco control law by indirectly advertising tobacco and portraying smoking as normal and culturally acceptable in TV dramas. He said he was also concerned about increasing advertising of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. Akram Radwan, a member of the Health Committee, suggested banning TV from portraying the use of any tobacco product.
30th January 2023
- Egypt: Ashraf Hatem, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Health Committee, has argued that although novel nicotine products pose significant health risks, they are less harmful than regular cigarettes, and that curbing nicotine addiction can begin gradually by relying on e-cigarettes or heated tobacco to replace regular cigarettes, press reports.
25th January 2023
- Egypt: In a televised interview, Ahmed Abdel-Maged, secretary of the Senate's Health Committee, said that heated tobacco products are as harmful as smoking. He said tobacco companies mislead the public by marketing them as healthy alternatives to smoking, while they are equally dangerous as the inhaled smoke contains nicotine, which is addictive. Earlier this week, a bill was submitted to the Senate’s Health Committee to expand usage restrictions on heated tobacco and to ban its usage in universities and schools in order to curb widespread use by youth.
23rd January 2023
Tunisia: Tobacco importers and manufacturers have until 13th December to place a health warning on their products. Last year, the health ministry imposed health warnings covering 70% of the packaging, with an original deadline of 21st January 2023. Heated tobacco is treated as a tobacco product and has been under the monopoly of the National Tobacco and Matches Authority since September 2021.
20th January 2023
- Egypt: A bill presented by representative Mohamed Emara – secretary of the Youth and Sports Committee – will be discussed by the Senate health committee on Sunday, 22nd January. Among the provisions of the bill are expanding usage restrictions on heated tobacco and banning its consumption in universities and schools in order to curb widespread use by youth, press reports. However, heated tobacco usage has already been treated as smoking, which means that even if the bill is adopted, it would not impact the current situation.
