SWEDISH MATCH SOUTH AFRICA (PTY)LTD

From : Mr Johnny Ghosal: Managing Director


To: The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health, The Bon. Mr. James Ngculu,

February 5 2007

Dear Chairperson,

TOBACCO PRODUCTS CONTROL AMENDMENT BILL

1. You very kindly agreed during the public hearings last week in connection with the above Bill, to receive written submissions from Swedish Match in connection with the Preamble to the Bill and the definition of "tobacco product'. We greatly appreciate your indulgence and our submissions are set out below.

2. Explanation

2.1. Swedish Match sincerely believes in reducing the health problems of smoking, but disagrees that all tobacco use is the same. By telling smokers that their only choice is to quit nicotine entirely or keep smoking and die from it, the anti-tobacco lobby will actually cause a lot of people to become ill and die unnecessarily.

2.2. Swedish-style snus offers a real but much less harmfu.1 alternative to people who want to quit smoking but cannot. We want to provide would-be quitters with a reasonable alternative and save lives. In that context Swedish-style snus is consistent with the aim of encouraging existing users of tobacco products (particularly smoking tobacco) to quit, as well as reducing the incidence of tobacco-related illness and death, provided that snus is offered to only those who W8Dt to quit smoking and not to a wider audience.

2.3. 11 is not the intention to offer Swedish snus to people who have not before used tobacco products. In any case a product like Swedish snus would not attract such people because it bas never been offered as a so-called 'life-style' or aspirational product, like cigarettes

2.4. For these reasons, it is important to permit smokers whom want to quit but cannot do so successfully, to learn about the much safer option of Swedish snus in order to make an informed choice about preserving their health. That is simply consistent with the constitutional rights inter alia, of freedom to receive or impart information or ideas, and to have access to any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights.

2.5. The proposed definition of 'tobacco product' in the Bill, if passed into law, will embrace Swedish snus. The only difficulty is that it may then affect the right of would-be smoking quitters to know about the safer option of Swedish snus because it makes it difficult to inform them about the existence and advantages of the product compared to smoking. In that case they may be unable to quit smoking successfully with the result that they may continue to expose themselves to the very much greater risk of smoking compared to the use of snus.

2.6. Similarly, the Preamble to the Bill simply tails to distinguish the pronounced difference between smoking tobacco and smokeless tobacco like Swedish snus, in terms of their relative impact on the health of users. It also unfairly blames the evil of association of all tobacco products with 'social success, business advancement and sporting prowess', which has never been a claim made for Swedish snus manufactured and distributed by Swedish Match. Finally, it fails to recognise the possibility that Swedish snus, far from contributing to 'the incidence of tobacco-related illness and death', may actually playa useful role in reducing it. Therefore its use to smokers who want to quit should not be suppressed like smoking tobacco.

3. Suggested alteration to the Preamble

Preamble

ACKNOWLEDGING that tobacco use­

·         particulary smoking tobacco, is extremely injurious...etc.'

 

CONSIDERING that­

·         the extent of the harmful effects...etc.

 

·         more research must be done on the claim that certain smokeless tobacco products, such as Swedish style pasteurised snus, may play a useful  role in reducing the incidence of tobacco –related illness and death among smokers;


(suggested insertions underlined)

4, Suggested alteration to the definition of ‘tobacco product’

Add the words ",..but does not include Swedish style pasteurized snus’ at the end of the definition.

(suggested insertion underlined)

Alternatively

Keep the definition of 'tobacco product’ as it is in the Bill, but:­

 

·         extend the Minister’ s powers to exempt any tobacco product from a provision of the Act (in the terms suggested by BAT), and simultaneously recommend to the Department of Health that it should:­

 

·         do more research on the claim that certain smokeless tobacco products such as Swedish style pasteurized snus. may play a useful role in reducing the incidence of tobacco-related illness and death among smokers;

 

·         meanwhile, pending the outcome of such research, exempt Swedish style pasteurized snus from the provisions of the Tobacco Products Control Act, 1993 that may hinder or prevent dissemination of information about it to smokers who want to quit.

5. We take this opportunity to extend an invitation to you and members of your committee to visit our production facilities in Sweden and to consult with a range of experts on Swedish snus while on your visit, in order to learn more about the advantages that the product offers to smokers who want to quit but cannot do so successfully.

6. We believe that open and flank discussion about snus in an atmosphere that is objective and not emotionally charged, will be in the ultimate interests of all South African citizens who are having difficulty quitting smoking. It is important to acknowledge that they too have rights including the right of choice based on proper information about all options available to them. That after all is consistent with the message that tobacco use, specifically smoking tobacco, is extremely injurious to the health of users and non-smokers exposed to their smoke, and that those who are struggling and perhaps failing to quit have a range of options to help them. It is better to help them quit rather than see them fail.

We thank you sincerely for your attention and look forward to your decision.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Johnny Ghosal: Managing Director