Sars accepted three hammer mills - which it uses to destroy illegal cigarettes - from the Tobacco Institute of South Africa. The National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) has slammed the South African Revenue Service (Sars) for accepting donations from the Tobacco Institute of South Africa (Tisa). According to media reports, Tisa donated three hammer mills that...
The government is not doing enough to stop the tobacco industry interfering with policy, the 2021 Tobacco Industry Interference Index Report for SA has claimed. The report states that several government departments have partnered unchecked with the tobacco industry. The index, which is an annual review of how governments protect public health policies from tobacco industry...
Dr Yussuf Saloojee, director of the National Council Against Smoking, has said that South Africa's anti-tobacco lobby needs to create more effective messages to counter the tobacco industry's focus on the economic role it plays and the taxes it pays. Saloojee was speaking at the launch of the 2021 Tobacco Industry Interference Index for South...
Johannesburg - The Vapour Products Association is concerned with how vaping has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its latest report. And chief executive Asanda Gcoyi said labelling vaping as “harmful” was reckless. “The WHO, along with many other groups opposed to e-cigarettes and vaping, has once again demonstrated a lack of understanding...
The SA Tobacco Organisation's proposed R22 for a pack of 20 cigarettes will not cover taxes, according to British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA). BATSA has issued a statement hitting out at the proposal - citing a study that shows it is not economically viable to sell cigarettes below R26.55 per pack. BATSA...
An Eastern Cape man is to appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Friday after he was allegedly found in possession of illicit tobacco worth R10 million. In a statement released on Friday, spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the province, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, said members of the Hawks’ Serious...
Local tobacco companies’ market share quadrupled during the country’s temporary sales ban in 2020, overtaking Big Tobacco’s pre-ban near-monopoly on South Africa’s tobacco industry. The sales ban did cause people to smoke less and prevented more than 2 000 tobacco-related deaths, but at the expense of progress made to curb illicit trade in...
Customs officers of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) have announced that they have seized illegal cigarettes around Gauteng which amount to R2.4 million. In a statement Sars said 22 shops were raided in Kempton Park, Pretoria and Johannesburg. This was a joint operation between Sars Customs, the SAPS, the Department of Home Affairs and...
The department of health is pushing forward on a draft bill in an effort to get more stringent anti-smoking laws passed. The department’s Lynn Moeng told EWN that the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill is currently in the pipeline, and that government is working as ‘fast as it can’ to have...
Government’s renewed vigour to eliminate illegal tobacco imports and exports will be demonstrated on Friday when a multi-department operation will see 12 million cigarettes being destroyed. The consignment, which has a R18 million market value will be destroyed at the State Warehouse, at no.9 FW de Klerk Boulevard, Cape Town Foreshore at 8am. In a statement,...
