Smokers may soon run out of spaces to light up
The Ministry of Health and Social Services has proposed a set of laws that will further limit space for smokers in public places.
The new laws will prohibit smoking in “indoor public places, workplaces and public” and will extend to outdoor restrictions, “including 50m zones around health facilities, educational/childcare facilities, transport terminals and other child-focused services”.
The proposed amendments are currently being presented to the public during national consultations countrywide.
The ministry says the changes are necessary as new nicotine and tobacco products increasingly enter the market, raising concerns about their appeal to young people, addiction and the potential reversal of gains made on tobacco control.
Owners in the hospitality sector, however, say the proposed new laws would have a damaging impact on their businesses.
Namibia ratified the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005.
The Tobacco Products Control Act was subsequently passed in 2010, with regulations introduced in 2014.
The ministry says the proposed amendments seek to bring the legislation in line with changing tobacco and nicotine products and strengthen the country’s implementation of tobacco-control measures.
Among the key proposals is an expanded definition of a “prohibited product”.
The proposed definition would cover e-cigarettes, nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems, heated tobacco products, nicotine pouches and other oral and nasal nicotine products.
It would also include smokeless tobacco, water pipes, hookah and shisha products, characterising flavours and products designed to imitate or replace tobacco or nicotine products.
The proposed amendments would also explicitly cover naturally occurring and synthetic nicotine, as well as nicotine analogues intended for human consumption or delivery.
Owners and employers face tougher responsibilities to control smoking at their establishments under proposed amendments to Namibia’s Tobacco Products Control Act.
The committee reviewing the act proposes that establishments should be required to actively prevent smoking in prohibited areas and protect workers and members of the public from exposure to tobacco smoke.
According to the committee’s proposal, owners and employers would have “the duties to prevent smoking, display signs, remove ashtrays and protect employees from exposure”.
The proposed amendments would also prevent establishments from creating indoor smoking areas to accommodate smokers.
“No indoor designated smoking areas are permitted; ventilation or physical separation does not constitute compliance,” the committee states.
This means establishments would not be able to comply with the proposed restrictions by simply creating a separate smoking section inside a building, installing ventilation or physically separating smokers from non-smokers.
The proposal would prohibit smoking in “indoor public places, workplaces and public conveyances”.
The committee is also proposing wider restrictions around establishments and other public facilities.
It proposes “50m zones around health facilities, educational/childcare facilities, transport terminals and other child-focused services”.
In addition, the proposal would establish “50m restrictions around entrances, windows, ventilation intakes, waiting areas and places where food/drink is served or consumed”.
Economic Association of Namibia chairperson Jason Kasuto says the proposed tobacco restrictions could have implications for small businesses and informal traders that rely on tobacco sales for cash flow.
“The small businesses and retailers’ margin on tobacco products is something one would need to have a view on. Would it affect those businesses that rely on fast-moving goods in terms of their cash flow?” he asks.
Kasuto says it is difficult to determine whether businesses would be able to replace income generated from tobacco sales with other products.
“Any income is income, especially income that has been there for some time. It’s again a tough one around what other product they would be able to replace that with,” he says.
Kasuto says the potential impact on small and informal businesses should be considered alongside the health and social concerns associated with tobacco.
“We know there are health and social factors linked to tobacco and associated products. So there could be a very strong rationale,” he says.
The Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) says the sector is concerned that the proposed restrictions could hurt tourism businesses, particularly restaurants and accommodation establishments.
“Accommodation and catering outlets or restaurants have already incurred sizeable expenses in creating convenient smoking zones to separate smokers from non-smokers, and this has worked well and provided comfort and convenience for all,” HAN chief executive Gitta Paetzold says.
She warns that the proposed 50-metre smoke-free zones could force smokers away from establishments.
“It would literally drive people into the streets. Clients would simply decide to stay away, with revenue and job losses in the hospitality industry as a consequence,” she says.
A representative of Tokyo Lounge in Windhoek, who spoke on condition of anonymity, yesterday said: “As a business, how are we supposed to make money? Besides the alcohol, this is a way of us making money, bringing out the hookah is N$150.
“Imagine how many people come out for this each day. This law is not a bad one, but consider the income we make even from selling tjoefs (vapes).”
Addition Hosea, the co-owner of Temperature Restaurant and Lounge in Windhoek, is asking whether lawmakers are considering business owners.
“The rules keep changing, but do the stakeholders consider us and our means of making a living? It’s not just a trend for some people to smoke, but a lifestyle and a form of entertainment, meaning more money for us so how will we make this money?” he asks.
Another business owner, Charles Kamu of local hangout Fillas Chilling Spot, says: “At times, we not only have these hookahs at our bars and the chilling spots we own, but we also rent them out to festivals.
The City of Windhoek already shared policies around not smoking outside, now inside is a problem too?”
The proposed amendments would require prescribed health warnings using both text and pictures with warnings covering at least 92,5% of the principal display area of a product.
The means warnings covering 85% of the front of a cigarette package and 100% of the back, changing every two years.
“The current labelling is covering 58% on average, 53% in front and 63% in the back,” the ministry’s document reads.
The proposals also introduce plain packaging and require the disclosure of product contents, emissions and constituents.
Manufacturers would be prohibited from using descriptions, symbols, colours or representations that could mislead consumers about a product’s characteristics, health effects, risks, hazards or emissions.
