Mohamed Ameen Dabhelia – 2018/08/31

The Vapour Product Association of South Africa says government’s proposed new laws for tobacco control threatens the future of the vaping industry.

CEO at VPA Zodwa Velleman told Radio Islam that the vaping industry is worth more than R1 billion and supports 4000 full-time jobs.

Velleman says that the Bill groups vaping with traditional cigarettes despite independent international research showing, according to VPA, that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful.

“We are concerned about how the bill is currently framed, it is a proposal from the department of health which is gone out for public comment so we have about three months to comment and we actually did.”

Velleman says the bill will deprive millions of South African smokers from making the transition to something safer.

“Less harmful which is vaping, this is based on international studies that have been conducted over a number of years on the product and this is scientific information that we presented to the department of health.

The local e-cigarette market generated more than R1.16bn in sales in 2017 and was projected to triple over the next decade, but the association says growth is threatened by the proposed bill.

Listen to the full interview below: