Two players drive the global tobacco industry – the legal and the illegal players. While the former group comprised the registered corporate entities that have known addresses, business structures and employees, who pay the appropriate taxes and comply with laws of the different countries in which they operate, the latter group is unknown and cannot be regulated. Examples of the legal players in the country are the British American Tobacco Nigeria, International Tobacco Company, Ilorin, and Leaf Tobacco, Kaduna.
The latter group, it is said, is made up of criminal gangs, which engage in illegal trade in tobacco products, such as smuggling and counterfeiting of illegal products. Based on their mode of operation, it is difficult to get them to comply with laws and regulations.
In Nigeria, the debate has been on for sometime on the regulation of tobacco. While some seek outright ban on tobacco, others say if the legal industry is forced out of business, there will still be demand for tobacco products. “In the absence of the legal industry, the demand will be met by faceless illegal ‘industry’, driven by criminals, who do not pay taxes and obey laws, including the law that prohibits selling cigarettes to underage persons,” they argued.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, at a one-day public hearing on Tobacco Products Regulation and Control Bill, 2014, in Abuja, said the National Control Bill was not meant to ban or chase away the legal industry but to regulate manufacturing, consumption and promotion of tobacco products in Nigeria.
According to Senator Okowa, “it is not our intention to drive away the legal industry but to make them operate in a responsible manner for the sake of the health of our citizens, as the hearing will strengthen the bill to address some issues, confronting the health system. The bill is not seeking outright ban on smoking but to restrict and control tobacco smoking. We are not legislating for total ban.”
In his opening remarks, Senate President, David Mark, represented by Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Ahmed Markafi, said the bill sought to protect future generation of Nigerians from the devastating health, social economic and environmental consequences of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke, amongst others. According to him: “The tobacco regulations bill, as we all know, has been on the floor of the Senate for some time now and anything that has such effect on the public health deserves the right awareness and attention.”
He added: “Much of the contribution of the negative effect of tobacco and tobacco products in the country is the illegal production, distribution and advertising of the product by many vendors which has led to the cause of many diseases and untimely death of many Nigerians. For this bill to be sustained, it needs more than government’s backing. We must shun illegality in this business sector in its entirety. Out Customs, judicial system and relevant health agencies have to be on deck to provide succour where and when needed.”
He called on stakeholders present at the hearing to contribute gainfully in order to help the committee arrive at more informed and conclusive decision.
At the hearing, the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) reiterated its support for the passage of balanced regulation for the industry.
It told Daily Sun that contrary to the endless allegations by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs), BATN fully supports a balanced and evidence-based regulation of the tobacco industry. “British American Tobacco recognises that, along with the pleasure that some people derive from smoking, there are associated health risks. It recognises that cigarettes are not just like any other consumer product. That is why it fully supports the view that the manufacturing, marketing and consumption of the product should be regulated. As a matter of fact, it is in the best interests of the legal tobacco industry that the product should be regulated. If the industry is not regulated and all sorts of people get involved in the industry and carry out unsavoury practices, it is the recognised legal tobacco companies that will be blamed.”
The Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, BAT West Africa, Mr. Freddy Messanvi told the committee that BATN has always supported the passage of a balanced and evidence-based regulation of the tobacco industry in Nigeria.
He said: “Through co-operation between BATN and regulatory agencies, we have achieved reduction in the incidence of illicit trade from over 80 per cent to around 20 per cent today.”
Messanvi pointed out that any proposed regulation must not force the legal and regulated businesses out of operation and leave the market at the mercy of smugglers and illicit traders, adding that in passing this bill, it was important that trends in other countries where similar legislations and implications had been considered should be taken into consideration.
He conveyed BATN’s support for various provisions in the bill such as non-sale of cigarettes to people under the age of 18, even as he highlighted some areas of concern. One of such, according to him, is the outright ban of retail sales of tobacco products, which he noted would drive the sales underground into the hands of tobacco smugglers.
Representative of the Oyo State government, Tajudeen AbdulKareem of the state Directorate of Public Prosecution, said as the host state to BATN, a lot of employment opportunities had gone to Oyo indigenes and Nigerians resident in the state, adding that a regulation that would not favour the industry would surely affect the livelihood of many.
Other stakeholders such as Initiative for Public Policy Analysis and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), in their submissions, were of the opinion that the legal industry should not be stifled out of operation thereby leaving the citizenry at the mercy of smugglers. According to them, this will defeat the purpose that the law was supposed to achieve.
Also present at the hearing were the Federal Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Justice, Trade and Investment, The Consumers Protection Council, Customs, Standard Organization of Nigeria, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, The Oyo State government and The Nigerian Medical Association.
Others were Hotels and Restaurants Owners Association, Tobacco Retailers Association, Tobacco Smokers Association and Independent Tobacco Farmers Association, among others.
source: sun news
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