Chairperson, allow me first to congratulate the Minister and Deputy Minister of Health on their appointments.
Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, hon members and invited guests, it gives me great pleasure to speak on the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill. The Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Tobacco Products Control Act, Act 83 of 1993.
The Bill seeks to do the following: amend certain definitions and add new ones; strengthen the section that prohibits advertising, promotion and sponsorship; provide for better packaging and labelling of tobacco products; set the same product standards for manufacturers and importers of tobacco products; prohibit sales to and by people under 18 years of age; extend the provisions prohibiting the free distribution of tobacco products; and restrict the location of vending machines.
The Bill also seeks to empower the Minister to make regulations regarding the following: the health information to be displayed on a package; notices that may be displayed at points of sale; display of tobacco products at points of sale; quantities that must be contained in a package; and the determination of penalties for contraventions. The Minister shall prescribe minimum package sizes. Smokers who buy single cigarettes do not see the health warnings that appear on cigarette packages. Prescribed packages will carry health warnings. Loose cigarettes also make cigarettes affordable to people under the age of 18 years.
The 1999 Amendment Act banned the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. This prevented the industry from making smoking appear smart, glamorous and sophisticated. The law helped to reduce tobacco use among children. There was a 17% increase in children between the ages of 13 and 19 years who have not taken even one puff on a cigarette between 1999 and 2000. This statistic was taken from the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey.
The Bill makes standards that apply to manufacturers of tobacco products applicable to importers of tobacco products. This will ensure that all traders and manufacturers are measured by the same standards.
The Bill contains provisions that relate to the sale of tobacco products to minors. The Bill proposes to raise the minimum age for the legal sale of tobacco products to 18 years. This is to protect those people defined as "young" by the Constitution. The tobacco industry has also recommended that this age restriction be raised from 16 to 18 years. We welcome that.
The sale of cigarettes through the post, Internet or electronic media is prohibited. Such sales are difficult to monitor. There is no control as the Internet, post and electronic media are freely available and accessible, even to young people.
The location of vending machines is restricted to designated smoking areas. The sale of nontobacco products, for instance chocolates, cool drinks, crisps, etc, from vending machines used for the sale of tobacco products is to be prohibited. These are steps towards reducing purchases by minors, since while purchasing chocolates they might be attracted to tobacco products. The Vending Association of South Africa also made a recommendation on the location of vending machines.
The Bill contains provisions for offences and penalties. I hope members will listen to this one so that they are able to help their constituencies. The Bill introduces the following penalties: An individual who contravenes section 2(5), 3(8), (9)(a) or (b) or (l0) or 4(l), (2), (3), (4)(a) or (b) or (5) or 5 could be fined up to R100 000. An individual who contravenes section 3(l), (2), (3), (6), (7)(a) or (b), 3A or 4A could be fined up to