THE regulations that will go hand-in-hand with the Tobacco Control Act are being drafted and are expected to be completed soon, Ministry of Public Health Public Relations Officer Terrence Esseboom said on Tuesday.

According to Esseboom, the draft regulations, when completed, will be submitted to Demerara Tobacco Co. (DEMTOCO), after which consultations on implementation of the Tobacco Control Act and the accompanying regulations will commence. British American Tobacco Co, of which DEMTOCO is a subsidiary, is expected to return to Guyana when the consultations commence.

The regulations are expected to guide the sale, packaging, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, the health official explained.
The Tobacco Control Act took effect on December 11, 2017, following the issuing of a commencement order by Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence. However, the initial focus is on the tobacco industry.

The Public Health Ministry had said that the act would be gradually enforced. Though the ministry had announced that it would have met with the key players in the tobacco industry last month to inform them of implementation of the complete ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, those meetings have not yet been held, according to the public relations officer.

Part VI of the act addresses the issues of advertising, promotion and sponsorship. According to Section 19, “All advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems are prohibited.”
It was stated that the prohibition includes any tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship that promote or are likely to promote the tobacco industry, directly or indirectly.

PAHO/WHO National Consultant, Attorney-at-Law Kesaundra Alves, had explained that the comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship is in keeping with Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), noting that it was critical to block all loopholes the local tobacco industry may want to use to its advantage.

“The tobacco epidemic is one that is not spread by infection but by promotion and advertisement. Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) glamorises tobacco use by associating the use of tobacco products with positive social and personal images,” Alves had posited. According to her, stamping out all forms of TAPS is the only way to eliminate the tobacco epidemic.

The act provides for a ban on smoking in indoor public places, indoor workplaces and public transportation, and only in specified outdoor places, including the premises of schools and health facilities, and places for the commercial service of food and drinks. The Tobacco Control Act regulates where persons can smoke tobacco products in order to protect others from exposure to dangerous second-hand smoke, but it does not ban smoking.
In August 2017, the Tobacco Control Act became law after the bill was passed by the National Assembly and was assented to by President David Granger.