With over N213billion in taxes from the tobacco industry, the Senate may have opted for a middle ground solution to the heated debate over tobacco ban. In the interest of the economy, the industry, smokers and non-smokers, the National Assembly plans to harmonise the Tobacco Bill before the expiration of their session , write MUYIWA LUCAS and ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.
Unlike the uproar that greeted the public hearing at the Lower House when it deliberated on the controversial Tobacco Bill, the session inside the hallow chamber of the Senate was far from stormy when it conducted a public hearing on the issue last week. The hotly debated bill sought to regulate and control the production, manufacturing, sale, advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco or tobacco products in the country.
But when the Senate Committee on Health whose legislative input is expected to enhance a robust bill that would pave way for tobacco law deliberated on the matter for four hours, it was devoid of the usual hot exchanges. All the stakeholders, both for and against the bill, walked away after the presentation of about 48 submissions. The understanding was that the bill was not aimed at throwing people into the job market and stop tobacco industry from operating as a business. Rather, it was to protect public health.
At the public hearing, last week, the Senate assured Nigerians that the new Tobacco Bill will not create unemployment or result in the closure of multinational companies that manufacture cigarette in the country. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, gave the assurance saying the new bill is designed to safeguard the health of the people.
Okowa, who was reacting to the concerns raised by the Oyo State government in which it complained that any stringent regulations in the industry would worsen the economic situation of its people, assured that the interest of all stakeholders would be taken into consideration in the passage of the bill. He also noted that the intention of the Senate is to regulate the tobacco industry in a responsible manner, adding that the rights of the younger generation needs to be protected
“Our intention in the National Assembly is not to drive the industry away by stopping them from manufacturing.
“We only believe that they need to be regulated so that they will continue to act in a responsible manner. It is not only about the industry, but also about the retailers and our attitude as Nigerians. It is a comprehensive thing. People have the right to smoke, but we also want people to realise that smoking is injurious to their health and that they need to protect the right of other people who do not smoke and of course, the young ones need to be protected. Cigarette is the only product that we allow people to buy and sell in Nigeria legally even when we know it has a lot of injury and health hazards,” he said
The Senate President, David Mark, also explained that the National Tobacco Control Committee and the Tobacco Control Unit were being proposed by the Bill as the administrative bodies to handle the harmonisation of the executive bill, the Senate bill and stakeholders’ input at the hearings before it becomes a law.
He said: “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. This gathering has onerous task of assessing issues not limited to just tobacco distribution, sale, advertising, manufacture and sponsorship but also issues like age restriction and penalties, effects of second-hand smoke, both in children and adults smoking in public places.”
Senators Okowa’s and Mark’s clarifications were in sync with the position of the House of Representative, which deliberated on the matter few mionths ago. Its Chairman House Committee on Health, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, had assured that the tobacco bill was not intended to kill tobacco business, but rather to ensure that the business of tobacco was conducted in a regulated manner that would guarantee a healthy environment for all concerned. He explained that the public hearing was aimed at ensuring that all the parties to the bill were given opportunity to air their views as the bill, when enacted, would reflect the collective wishes of Nigerians.
However, the position being canvassed by the National Assembly apparently did not go down well with some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other critical stakeholders most of who favour a total ban of tobacco business. Their desire is premised on the health implication of tobacco consumption. Armed with statistics of deaths related to tobacco consumption, a coalition made up of Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), and the National Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), insisted that a tobacco control bill that is in sync with the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) would not only promote public health, but also fulfill Nigeria’s obligation under the FCTC.
“The public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill is a welcome development and presents another opportunity for our lawmakers in the Senate to side with the people by ensuring that the bill is in tandem with the FCTC, which is the first global health treaty. The Senate must stand firm in the face of growing misinterpretation of the tobacco control bill by agents of the tobacco industry. It must remain vigilant and resist the deceptions and lies of the tobacco industry and those fronting for them,” ERA/FoEN Director, Corporate Accountability, Akinbode Oluwafemi said.
Also, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani said: “The public hearing is coming at a time that the health burden instigated by tobacco products has started assuming alarming proportions. Nothing short of effective regulation of the manufacture, sale and distribution of such lethal products is needed now.”
But in fairness to tobacco producers, a lot of efforts have been made to curtail, through self regulation and corporate social responsibility possible health effects of tobacco.
The Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, BAT West Africa, Mr. Freddy Messanvi, said this much when he explained that BATN has always supported the passage of a balanced and evidence-based regulation of the industry in Nigeria. His words: “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 therefore, warned that the proposed regulation should not force a legal and regulated business out of operation and leave the market at the mercy of smugglers and illicit traders. He added that in passing the bill to law, it was important to consider trends and implications in other countries with similar legislation.
Similarly, Habanera Limited, an affiliate of Japan Tobacco International (JTI), said it was not happy that tobacco advertising was banned in Nigeria by Advertising Practitioners Council (APCON) through its Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion, even while the bill iwas still being debated and yet to be signed into law.
The General Manager, JTI, Mr. Grant Mowat, said that while the ban is rigorously enforced, no justification has been presented for why the bill is needed in the light of existing restrictions. “This ban is rigorously enforced, sufficient and complies with Nigeria’s entire obligation in terms of Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC). Despite this, the Bill proposes new measures. No justification has been presented for why they are needed in the light of existing restrictions, nor has there been any assessment of whether they will be effective or what the negative consequences might be,” he said.
For the Chairman of Tobacco Growers Association of Nigeria, Rasheed Bakare, there is need for a bill that would promote and encourage sponsorship of tobacco farming as well as provide incentives to farmers. Anything short of that, he said, would not only destroy their main source of income, which is tobacco farming, but also throw their children out of school.
On its part, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) requested that certain factors be put into consideration in the pursuit of the bill. These factors include putting into consideration the manufacturing capacity of the industry, which if eroded will affect the tobacco industry’s contribution to the economy. According to MAN, thousands of rural farmers actively engaged in tobacco cultivation through support by tobacco companies leading to wealth creation, financial empowerment and better standard of living.
That is not all. MAN also noted that the tobacco industry contributes over N100 billion in revenue to government through excise duty, taxes and levies, corporate social investments among others. MAN warned that the current bill not only contravened trade agreements with other countries, but also will lead to loss of jobs, lrevenue, and an end to economic and social benefits enjoyed by rural farmers through CSR activities and promotion of smuggling among others.
For pro-tobacco stakeholders, Clause 3 of the draft bill is perhaps, the most unpopular provision. The clause provides that tobacco products will not be sold at open markets, shops and kiosks. For instance, the National Tobacco Retailers Association, Onuwankpu- Igbsagu Community in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, BATN, and a host of others, argued that doing so implies killing their businesses through the back door.
This much was highlighted at last week’s public hearing by the Director of Public Prosecution in the Oyo State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Tajudeen Abdul Ganiyu. The DPP told the committee that hundreds of Oyo indigenes, especially youths, would be out of job if the new bill forced the British American Tobacco Company in Ibadan to close down its operations.
Ganiyu said: “We are looking at a situation whereby the bill would put the industry out of business and throw the workers out of employment because we are going to suffer the immediate result of people being thrown out of market as it is going to increase the crime rate in our state.We are also concerned about the area of partnership between the state government and BATN. The company has been helping the Oyo people by empowering them to set up small entrepreneurs throughout the state. We have the tobacco farmers who are also being empowered too by the tobacco firm.”
Ganiyu was not done. “As a member of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control(WHOFCTC) that adopted the treaty on Tobacco Control, the Nigerian Government and the National Assembly have to live up to this mandate by ensuring that adverse effects and burden of tobacco and tobacco products on our public health system are sustainably controlled. We must understand that for this Bill to be sustained, it needs more than government’s backing. We must shun illegality in this business sector in its entirety.”
Interestingly, the Senate is not unmindful of the economic implications of banning tobacco, which was why the upper legislative chamber favours a balanced tobacco bill that would meet the expectations of all stakeholders. Besides, the current National Assembly winds up soon and because of the next election, the present wants to hasten the process to prevent a fresh debate on the bill by the next assembly if the present assembly fails to conclude the deliberation.
