Vape tax undermines smoking reduction efforts

You introduced excise duty on nicotine and nicotine-substitute solutions in vaping devices when you presented your budget for 2022. This tax started at R2.90/millilitre and was increased to R3.04/millilitre the following year. Finally, it reached the current R3.18/millilitre rate, pushing the tax for a 30ml eliquid bottle to R95. This may seem like a logical way to increase revenue for the government. As you prepare to make the medium-term policy statement for the budget, we want to know: Where is the proof this excise has led to a decrease in youth smoking or youth initiation? Local research showed that high-income youth were not discouraged. However, no study was conducted on most of the poor children in the country. Most adult smokers who are in less affluent situations cannot switch to a safer alternative nicotine product due to its high cost. If the government didn’t have a harm reduction policy, then, as it still doesn’t to this day, your move and the department of health’s attempts to impose drastic regulations on these products are further setting back efforts at reducing the high rate of health burdens as a result of combustible tobacco in this country. Vaping products with high excise taxes are counterproductive, and they have proven to be detrimental to efforts to reduce smoking rates. Vaping is designed to be a safer alternative than smoking combustible cigarettes. Vaping is discouraged by taxation, especially in communities with lower incomes where smoking rates are still high. The high taxation on traditional tobacco and the new-generation products will automatically drive smokers away from these products in favor of cheaper, but more harmful illicit tobacco. The SAPS, in a presentation to parliament’s portfolio committee on health on October 22, warned that highly organised criminal syndicates control the trade in illicit tobacco.Sars loses billions due to tax avoidance by manufacturers of cheap illicit products that negatively affect the operations of legitimate manufacturers. In addition, the Department of Health continues to push forward the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill despite its many flaws. The bill seeks to regulate both traditional tobacco and newer products like e-cigarettes, vapes, etc. The bill aims to treat both categories of products as equal, despite the growing evidence that shows they have different risk profiles. It’s unclear what the department is trying to achieve by declaring a war on harm reduction and a proven method in smoking cessation.In the same parliamentary briefing, SAPS further cautioned that the bill will introduce new offences that may strain investigative and prosecutorial capacity, especially in under-resourced areas. It specifically flagged the inherent difficulties in enforcing the plain packaging and labelling provisions in the bill, noting that this would require advanced detection tools, real-time databases, and additional training which the SAPS has limited capacity for.Although the mid-term budget does not pronounce on taxes, we have a few tips to consider as you prepare the full budget next February:· Reduce taxes on vapes and e-cigarettes: Kickstart a harm reduction policy by setting lower excise duties on new generation products to encourage higher uptake that may lower the smoking rate.· Ringfence excise duties for cessation efforts: If you insist on levying excise duties on vapes and e-cigarettes, ringfence the money so it is spent purely on cessation efforts. It could be used to subsidise the use of nicotine replacement therapy at public health facilities. · Use scientific evidence as a basis to tax harmful products higher: Esteemed institutions show that vaping is 95% less harmful than traditional tobacco. Tobacco combustibles should be taxed at the highest rate, and vapes that are based on nicotine strength should be taxed at the lowest. This would encourage people to switch to safer alternatives. · Talk to the public to encourage safer options: Embark on a national education campaign using all media to educate smokers not just about the dangers of combustible tobacco but also to promote higher uptake of safer alternatives through the embrace of a harm reduction policy.Minister Godongwana, you can either treat vapes and e-cigarettes as vices to be punished through higher taxes or as a tool to be leveraged for harm reduction. First, it will merely increase the profits of the criminal syndicates who control the tobacco market. It will also increase the burden placed on the health care system due to the diseases and deaths caused by smoking. The other option is simple yet effective – fewer taxes on less harmful alternative products could translate to fewer cigarette smokers, reduced hospitalisation rates and avoidable deaths.Yeo is a former smoker who, after switching to vaping, co-founded the consumer advocacy group Vaping Saved My Life
2025-11-12 09:30:32