VPASA Communication

Thanks @Rob Fisher for helping to fight the fight
appreciate you big time!
 
Notice
Taxation of Vaping Products

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Dear Vaping Community,

On 29 July 2022, National Treasury published taxation measures for Electronic Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) under the 2022 Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (TLAB). This follows the publication of a discussion paper titled “Taxation of Electronic Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems” outlining a proposal on the taxation of ENDS/ENNDS, in December 2021. In April 2022, Treasury jointly hosted a stakeholder workshop session with the Department of Health, granting stakeholders the opportunity to provide further inputs into government’s proposal.

The Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA) provided detailed inputs into both processes. Below are some of the key areas of concern we have highlighted.

Impact of Excise Duty on Vaping Industry
Excisable goods tend to have a cost to society. Excise thus acts as a deterrent and to defray the cost to the state of treating the external costs of the concerned products. In general, the imposition of excise duties relies on the existence of a scientific consensus about the external costs of the behaviour sought to be discouraged.

For instance, smoking has been proven to have societal costs in the form of non-communicable diseases and according to the UK’s Royal College of Physicians, vaping could be up to 95% less harmful than smoking. Thus, it remains unclear what Treasury will achieve with a tax except deprive smokers of the possibility to reduce their exposure to the harms of smoking.

Tobacco Harm Reduction
The government does not take seriously the proposition that ENDS/ENNDS have been proven to be less harmful than smoking. Further, the products have been found to support the quit efforts of smokers, even in instances when they did not intend to quit smoking. A tax is thus likely to have negative possible health gains that could be achieved through smokers substituting their nicotine intake from smoking to vaping.

The intended vaping tax would lead to increases in the price of products, making people less likely to make the essential switch from smoking to less harmful alternatives. Additionally, a high tax would make ENDS/ENNDS unaffordable for people in poor communities who already share the bulk of persons directly affected by the harms of smoking.

Timing of Tax Proposal
VPASA does not, at this stage, support the imposition of a tax. There are simply too many smokers in South Africa to justify the adoption of measures that would make vaping unaffordable for millions of poor smokers. Similarly, government does not provide support for smokers who wish to quit smoking, thus making it very difficult for many to kick the habit. The imposition of a tax in the absence of a public health policy usurps the place of Parliament and forecloses the possibility for stakeholders to influence policy design through the Parliamentary process.

South Africa's vaping industry is comprised of mainly Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that will be severely affected by the vaping tax. The industry is still recovering from the effects of the tobacco and related products ban in 2020, so some of them will be forced out of business, taking with them valuable jobs which are currently hard to come by in the depressed South African economy.

Lack of Policy Rationale
The taxation of vaping products is premature and should not overtake the finalisation of the Draft Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems (COTPEDS) Bill, which is yet to be tabled in Parliament. It is our belief that processes around the taxing of vaping products cannot proceed without the finalisation of a regulatory framework for ENDS/ENNDS, as this would form the basis for determining if a taxation framework is actually required.

Expected Impact of Excise Duty
It is not clear from Treasury, at this point, what the projected impact of the proposed excise duty is. This is the natural outcome of an excise duty being imposed in the absence of an agreed public health policy position. Treasury should await the finalization of the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill prior to proposing a tax on ENNDS.

Its proposals must also be based on a thoroughgoing understanding of the vaping industry and community, to ensure that it does not overly distort the market in favour of combustible tobacco.

Sincerely,

Asanda Gcoyi, CEO
 
September 2022 VPASA Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

The Vapour Products Association of South Africa is proud to announce that we are an official member of the Advertising Regulatory Board! This is a great stride for the vaping industry towards being a more responsible industry body with the protection of consumers at the forefront of its work. You can read all about that via the link below.

August was tense! The industry was chasing the 29 August deadline of public comments on the proposed vaping e-liquid tax, battling misinformation, and working towards keeping the industry’s morale high with all these scary developments. We are proud to say that most of our members have taken this opportunity seriously and have succeeded in submitting comments. VPASA has also made a substantive submission that we hope will be taken seriously this time around.

The public workshop on the vaping e-liquid tax with National Treasury and the South African Revenue Services (SARS) will be taking place virtually on 08 September 2022. Further details will be shared with the industry early next week. We will of course share our feedback from the event. We hope that this time around, there will be a fair reflection of all the submissions made and the concerns raised will be in line with the National Policy Development Framework. Overall, our position remains that it is premature to impose an excise on an industry that is not regulated, and not enough has been done by the policymakers to paint a picture of the socio-economic impact of such a tax.

On a less stressful and ‘taxing’ note, we hope you enjoyed seeing the leading women of vaping during the month of August. By no means does this mean our appreciation for women, particularly the women who we have spotlighted throughout last month comes to an end. We want to take this opportunity to continue to exalt them. Women's Day is all about celebrating the strength and resilience of women and their contribution to South Africa’s society. Through their businesses, the women we highlighted have brought about and keep on fighting towards the eradication of tobacco harm – to all of them we say, Woman-dla!

We look forward to growing from strength to strength in September when we will be focusing on nicotine education, (please look out for our “Nicotine101 campaign”, don’t forget to keep sharing and promoting our content). Our fight is a long and tumultuous one but with all our combined effort, it should be light work.

We encourage you all to engage with us on all our socials and reach out with any comments, queries, and suggestions via email. Your support is truly appreciated!

Sincerely,

VPASA CEO, Asanda Gcoyi
 
October 2022 VPASA Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

As you may already know, there have been two major shifts in the vaping environment in South Africa last month. First, the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill has been approved by cabinet. The approved Bill presents some unexpected changes that we never anticipated – forget anticipated, we were not properly consulted on the material changes in this version of the Bill since 2018! Secondly, National Treasury has stuck to its guns despite all the noise we have made about how detrimental a R2.90/ml vaping tax would be on the industry, people’s livelihoods, and most importantly, their health. When it comes to excise, at this point all we can do is wait for another opportunity to engage National Treasury after the Midterm Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) proceeds.

Regarding the Bill, VPASA will continue to call for a separate regulatory framework that distinctively defines ENDS/ENNDS from tobacco products when the parliamentary part kicks in.

Our media focus will still be based on education through the sharing of key global research and updates thereof as well as a constant effort to fight against the rampant misinformation that’s forever haunting the vaping sector. You may have already seen an effort towards this in September where we went deeper into the origins and uses of nicotine and ingredients found in some vape liquids through the ‘Nicotine 101’ campaign. VPASA’s CEO has also been engaging with the media to talk about these developments and reiterate the industry’s position. This type of content will be ramped up in the coming months.

Things may be looking bleak now but through a concerted effort, we can still shape the vaping industry so its value towards tobacco harm reduction can be a part of the nation’s plan for public health in general. We are finalising several initiatives that we will be calling on you to participate in these coming months, so stay tuned and do your bit when the time comes.

We urge you to keep on engaging with us on our socials and via email – we are all in this together after all.

Sincerely,

VPASA CEO, Asanda Gcoyi
 
November 2022 VPASA Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

The ongoing battle for fair regulation continues. Following the news of Cabinet greenlighting the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill 2021, the vaping industry has been engaging various stakeholders on why the current Bill is not fit for the industry’s purpose.

The Bill has extensive revisions made to it since it was first published in 2018. While the Cabinet Statement announcing the adoption of the Bill noted that the Department of Health (DoH) had conducted extensive consultations on the Bill, it conveniently failed to state that other than anti-tobacco campaigners, no other stakeholders had seen a copy of the revised Bill before it was gazetted on 29 September. This is despite numerous requests for a copy of the Bill made by industry stakeholders to the DoH.

Some of the new material changes include a possible prohibition of characterising flavours (a flavour ban by another name?), the prohibition of couriering vaping products, plain packaging, plain shopfront displays, and the prohibition of internet sales of vaping products.

On the other hand, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana tabled the Tax Amendment Bill in Parliament on 26 October 2022, which includes the proposed taxation on vaping products. At 2.90/ml. the tax will impose considerable strain on the industry and consumers, making our industry less competitive against smoked tobacco.

It is evident that our policymakers have not understood the differences between and vaping smoking, despite our best efforts to present them with balanced information. Through submissions, media, webinars etc, we have endeavoured to raise awareness about the value of vaping to smokers, the community, and South Africa’s economy as a whole.

Regardless of these developments, now is not a time to be bleak about the future of the industry. VPASA will continue to raise the objections of the industry to both the draft Bill and the proposed excise duty. We will continue to engage various stakeholders in and outside of Parliament to ensure that our concerns are considered and that our industry is given the space to provide smokers with alternatives to smoked tobacco.

The most important thing at this point is for industry and consumers to work together to articulate our concerns and put forward alternatives to move the discussion on regulation and taxation forward. Soon we will be launching a fundraising campaign aimed at supporting initiatives to raise our share of voice on issues affecting our industry. We hope we can count on your support for this. Every little bit of support from every single person interested in the survival of this industry goes a long way. Please keep on engaging with us and participating in our initiatives. Don’t forget to reshare our content across all our platforms and keep vaping alive!

Lastly, we will be attending VapeCon 2022 in November 2022. We hope to see some of your there. Please do feel free to visit our stall and share your ideas about everything vaping regulation. Your ideas matter a lot to us.

Sincerely,

VPASA CEO, Asanda Gcoyi
 
For those attending VapeCon - please make an effort to go meet the VPASA people and show your appreciation

- they are the body putting in all the time and resources to fight the fight for the whole vaping industry.
 
I couldn't remember the thread title so thought I would post here to see if anyone has an update on the proposed taxes/bans etc that government wants to impose on the vape industry?
 
I couldn't remember the thread title so thought I would post here to see if anyone has an update on the proposed taxes/bans etc that government wants to impose on the vape industry?

Hi @Paul33

Have a look at the above newsletter from VPASA, which I share monthly on this thread
The most recent one is the one for November 2022

Plus VPASA was at VapeCon and did an interactive talk on stage.

They are the body that is fighting for fair regulation for vaping in SA.

At the moment, things are still up in the air as I understand it - but maybe @Rob Fisher can comment further.
 
Hi @Paul33

Have a look at the above newsletter from VPASA, which I share monthly on this thread
The most recent one is the one for November 2022

Plus VPASA was at VapeCon and did an interactive talk on stage.

They are the body that is fighting for fair regulation for vaping in SA.

At the moment, things are still up in the air as I understand it - but maybe @Rob Fisher can comment further.

Still up in the air!
 
December 2022 VPASA Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

Another month has gone by and the end of the year is nigh! 2022 has been full of challenges and exciting developments. Some of those challenges include the ongoing fight for a separate regulation, prevention of youth access to vaping products and the growing environmental waste.

As we reflect on the month of November, we remain confident that we have a strong argument against the proposed bill. VPASA's position on regulation remains the same - the vaping industry of South Africa needs separate and evidence-based regulation. In an effort to realize this, we have and will continue to lobby with various stakeholders including those in government, academia and media to highlight the values of vaping.

A concerning challenge is that of youth vaping. We have proactive members ensuring to do their bit in fulfilling our youth access prevention priority and with the increasing complaints about stores that are selling to underage persons, we have plans in the pipeline that will help in addressing this issue. The industry would like to reinforce the message that no youth access to vapour products should be permissible - this is VPASA's top priority. This challenge is even more worrying considering the misinformation that haunts the industry. It is important that we work together to address this. Your feedback, proactivity and advocacy go a long way in overcoming this hurdle.

On a positive note, we had the opportunity to attend VapeCon 2022. VPASA took advantage of this event to spread awareness about the importance of industry-wide collaboration and update consumers and businesses alike on the state of regulation. Most importantly, VPASA emphasised the need for businesses to be more mindful and extremely careful about running their businesses responsibly. The South African vaping industry is extremely sensitive right now and we feel that the message has landed.

As we gear up for the year to come, we would like to encourage all members of the vaping community to engage with us. We need to amplify your voices even louder next year! Let's hope that in 2023, we will hit the ground running and ensure more smokers' lives are saved as this industry cements itself more firmly.

Sincerely,

VPASA CEO, Asanda Gcoyi
 
Would like to take the opportunity to thank Asanda and her VPASA team for their great presence at VapeCon 2022!
And for their interactive talk they did on stage with @Rob Fisher and Kurt Yeo from @Vaping Saved My Life

I have highlighted the paragraph in their December newsletter above that references VapeCon.
 
February 2023 VPASA Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

The first month of the year has gone by just like that and we have a lot to show for it.

We kicked off the year by investing more time in reinforcing our youth access prevention messages on our social media platforms. These efforts also acted as an industry rebuttal to the widespread disinformation around youth and vaping towards the end of last year. As always, we encourage all members to abide by the industry association's code of conduct and to amplify our messaging (as well as their association with VPASA) and share it on their own platforms to help us educate smokers and the community at large. The youth access prevention message seeks to continuously address concerns about youth vaping and highlight the measures the association has taken to address youth vaping.

Needless to say, global research is ever-growing and continues to support our position and most importantly, dispel vaping myths. This gives us more ammunition to continue advocating on the value vaping has towards tobacco harm reduction. We commit to continuously share up-to-date scientific information about vaping products to demonstrate the industry's responsibility towards protecting consumers and helping smokers stop.

Conversely, the challenge around disposables and EVP-related waste cannot be ignored. We will continue to remind all members about how critical this is for the success and sustainability of the industry. We urge members to adopt a responsible recycling strategy while the industry is investigating appropriate methods to wholly manage EVP disposal correctly.

Our message remains clear and we have a solid strategy to continue fighting for what is fair regulation. With the parliamentary committee meeting expected in March and the National Treasury announcement expected during the budget speech, our intent is to continue lobbying and negotiate with key stakeholders in government, academia and global experts towards helping us find inclusive solutions towards reducing smoking prevalence.

Keep on engaging with us and keep an eye out as we will, as we always have, reach out to you for your crucial support!

Sincerely,

VPASA CEO, Asanda Gcoyi
 
Message from VPASA CEO regarding the Excise duty of R2.90 per ml effective 1st June!

Dear Valued Member,
It has come to our attention that some members were caught unaware by the pending excise
tax of R2.90 which will be imposed on vaping e-liquids from 1 June 2023.
We wish to assure Members that VPASA has taken part in all the consultative processes that
have unfolded over the last year to bring the tax into being. While we did not get our way, we
can assure members that both government and Parliament created platforms for all interested
parties to make submissions on the proposed tax and have partly accepted our request for
the tax to become effective in June, rather than January as initially proposed.
VPASA’s submissions centred on 4 key areas;
- There was no policy basis for imposing the tax as the Control of Tobacco Products and
Electronic Delivery Systems Bill had yet to be finalised.
- The proposed excise would discourage vaping and encourage smoking.
- The Treasury had not undertaken an Impact Assessment Study and as such, it was
not clear what the projected impact of the tax was going to be, thus making it difficult
to measure its success; and
- Proposed framework for the administration of the tax does not work for a versatile
industry like ours (too many gaps)
Treasury and Parliament were not persuaded by any of these arguments. Only the last point
was accepted, leading to the effective date being moved from 1 January 2023 to 1 June 2023
to allow Treasury and SARS the opportunity to develop a proper administration system for the
collection of the tax. We expect SARS to convene a workshop with stakeholders in March
2023 to outline the mechanics of the tax. VPASA will circulate the invitation when it is received.
We hope members will take the opportunity to attend and raise any potential difficulties they
may foresee to ensure a seamless experience when the tax becomes effective.
For those who missed the process as it unfolded, a short recap is provided below.
- February 2020: The Minister of Finance announced in his Budget Speech, that an
Excise tax would be imposed on vaping products after careful consideration and
consultation with interested stakeholders.
- February 2021: The Minister of Finance once again reiterated that the National
Treasury had commenced work which would lead to the imposition of a tax on vaping
products.
- December 2021: National Treasury published a concept document outlining tax
options for vaping products.
- February 2022: The Minister of Finance announced that Treasury had published a tax
proposal for vaping and that this would be included in the Tax Laws Amendment Bill
to be published in July 2022.
- March 2022: National Treasury hosted an online workshop with all interested
stakeholders to solicit inputs on the concept note published in December 2021.
VPASA, along with some members of the association, made submissions during the
Workshop.
- August 2022: Treasury published the draft Tax Laws Amendment Bill which called for
a tax of R2.90 p/ml to be levied on both nicotine and non-nicotine e-liquids. VPASA
commissioned a legal opinion from Webber Wentzel to review the process followed in
developing the tax and its legality. The legal opinion formed the basis for VPASA’s
submission on the tax. Ultimately, the Board decided it would not be prudent to
challenge the tax in court as it could complicate future engagements with the National
Treasury, leading to punitive rate increases in the future. Further, the outcome of our
consultations with the sugar, alcohol, and tobacco industries made it clear that the
industry would be unlikely to win a court case should it choose to challenge the tax via
the courts. At best, the industry could challenge the rate at which tax is imposed, but
would be very unlikely to escape taxation altogether. Furthermore, a legal challenge
may limit future collaboration on the assessment and review of the tax’s efficacy to the
benefit of anti-vaping campaigners who already have the ear of the National Treasury
and the Department of Health.
- October 2022: The Standing Committee on Finance held public hearings on the
proposed TLAB. VPASA and VSML submitted written submissions and made an oral
presentations to the hearing. The Committee voted to adopt the tax and referred the
Bill to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence.

- November 2022: The National Council of Provinces held public hearings on the TLAB.
VPASA, Vaping Saved My Life submitted written submissions and made oral
presentations to the hearings.
- December 2022: The National Council of Provinces voted to support the imposition of
a tax on vaping products.
- January 2023: President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the TLAB into law.
- 1 June 2023: Tax will come into effect.
At each stage during this process, VPASA has called upon members to attend these events
and to make their views known to the Treasury. We did this because we understood the varied
nature and views of our membership on the desirability of the tax, and the appropriate rate
that could be levied without crippling the industry. Through our weekly newsletters and special
calls, we have always made it our mission to reach out to members and alert them about
developments on the tax as we understood this to be an apex priority for all our members.
While some members made submissions, the vast majority opted not to attend or make any
submissions.
VPASA did not propose a specific tax rate as any proposed rate would have found disfavour
with some members. We had hoped that members would attend and push back against the
tax and where feasible, propose a rate that would be acceptable to the greater membership.
I trust the above clarifies what VPASA has done to drive the agenda of the industry on this
important issue. The Board and I are available to engage further on this should it be necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Asanda Gcoyi
CEO
 
Remember what happened when cigrettes were banned during covid? People started buying any and all crap they could get their hands on... Same thing will now happen here.

I for one can not afford a R290 increase on a bottle of 100ml juice. Guess I'll find another way to source my juice.

I feel sorry for the vape retailers. MANY will close up shop due to losing customers because of this insane tax hike. Don't get me wrong, I always knew a tax was coming. But R2,90 per ml is insane :facepalm: Wonder what the tax per gram on cigarettes are :rolleyes:
 
Tax on cigarettes is roughly 88c per cigarette btw...

R44 per 20 pack of Marlboro (according to Google)
44 / 20 = R2,20 per cigarette
Tax is 40% per packet (Also googled)
40% of R2,20 = 88c
 
Remember what happened when cigrettes were banned during covid? People started buying any and all crap they could get their hands on... Same thing will now happen here.

I for one can not afford a R290 increase on a bottle of 100ml juice. Guess I'll find another way to source my juice.

I feel sorry for the vape retailers. MANY will close up shop due to losing customers because of this insane tax hike. Don't get me wrong, I always knew a tax was coming. But R2,90 per ml is insane :facepalm: Wonder what the tax per gram on cigarettes are :rolleyes:

It is insane! Just stupid! It affects the real vapers at low nic in proper vape gear. Stinking pods and disposables get off lightly! It makes absolutely no sense and sends me into a RAGE every time I think about it!
 
Vaping will be a thing of the pas very soon. Stock up on nicotine…. That’s the only way.
 
March 2023 VPASA Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

As we bid farewell to the month of February, we take stock and reflect on the challenges encountered, learnings, and opportunities. 2022 ended on a sour note with the passing of the Tax Laws Amendment Bill by the National Council of Provinces and the subsequent signature of the amendments by the President on 3 January 2023. While it was always clear that our Parliament did not fully understand the science behind vaping, we remained hopeful that this would cause them to pause and seek more information on the issues we raised, including the absence of a proper Socio-Economic Impact Assessment on the proposed tax. Alas, both houses of Parliament passed the Bill in spite of their own acknowledgement that an impact assessment should have been conducted on the proposals.

Parliament received the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery System Bill on 9 December 2022. The Bill has been tagged as a section 76 bill, which means it will be processed by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The Bill will be presented to the Portfolio Committee on Health by the Department of Health on 15 March 2023. We urge all our members to tune into the hearings via YouTube as this will be the first time our Parliamentarians are briefed about the objectives and purpose of the Bill. We would also urge those who have contacts with any members of Parliament to reach out to them and seek their assistance in conveying our industry’s concerns about the draft Bill.

The next few months will be very busy ones for us. Our attention will be split between the Bill and the SABS-driven process of adopting standards for the vaping industry. The latter conversation is continuing apace, and we are in constant communication with the SABS to expedite this process. We are hopeful that it will move at the required speed to bring this matter to a close at the earliest possible time.

The Excise on vaping products will come into effect on 1 June 2023. VPASA is working to secure a meeting with both the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Services to get a clearer sense of how the tax will be collected and the attendant expectations on our members. Please look out for our invitation to partake in this important meeting once a date has been set.

Our campaign against youth vaping is continuing. While it is difficult for VPASA to hold the entire industry to account on this score, it remains our responsibility as an industry to create awareness about the dangers of selling vape products to young people under 18. We rely on you, as our members, to be our eyes and ears and work with us to create sufficient momentum behind our drive to stamp out the illegal sale of products to young people.

Let me take this time to thank all of you for your ongoing support for VPASA and for paying your membership dues. We depend on your support for everything we do.


Sincerely,

VPASA CEO, Asanda Gcoyi
 
It is funny how tax will be levied in 2 and a half months time, yet nothing has been made public including how tax will be collected.

There are soo soooo many people (manufacturers, distros, retail outlets, importers etc) in this distribution chain.

It is starting to sound like this industry is reserved for a few key players, I am starting to smell a rat.

Yes, we do need standards and tax may be levied but it is indeed sad that the government does things just BECAUSE.
 
May 2023 VPASA Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

Just like that, April is gone! It was quite an eventful month, to say the least. We saw the 6th rendition of VApril - the biggest vaping education and awareness campaign in the world. April highlighted that as a community, we all have a responsibility to share information about vapour products and help adult smokers make informed decisions.

April emphasized the reliance we at VPASA have on our members and the broader South African vaping community. Our association is all about raising awareness of the reduced harm profile of vaping so that adult smokers can have all the information they need in order to make the transition from smoking to vaping. The industry’s efforts can therefore be captured in one simple idea -changing behaviour.

Changing behaviour isn't easy because of the stigma around nicotine consumption, which requires a lot of unlearning. Through our collective, concerted efforts to educate the public and policymakers about the differences between smoking and nicotine, we are convinced that a great shift will happen. Such a shift will benefit South Africa’s public health and smoking community. Our media engagements seek to address the genuine misconceptions about vaping and to counter the plague of misinformation about vaping. Of course, in doing all this, we must be mindful of protecting our youth. This is our priority. We carry this tenet with us in all the work that we do.

As the vaping community knows, the vaping excise duty is due to become effective on 1 June 2023. Despite our best efforts to stem the introduction of this tax through extensive submissions to the National Treasury and Parliament, a decision was still taken to introduce the tax. The South African Revenue Service has agreed to VPASA’s request to participate in a workshop on the application of the tax. All members of VPASA are encouraged to attend this workshop as this is the first, and probably last opportunity that the industry will have to ask questions before the tax comes into effect.

It is worth reiterating that VPASA appreciates the support of the vaping community in carrying out its important mandate. While we may have faced setbacks on the tax, collective action should remain our guiding principle as we continue to position vaping as a harm-reduced alternative to smoking. We encourage you to follow us and engage with us on social media for regular and up-to-date information, and always remember that We Are Not Tobacco!

Yours sincerely,

Asanda Gcoyi
VPASA CEO
 
June 2023 VPASA Newsletter

Hey Subscriber!

May has been full of ups and major downs but we have accomplished a lot along the way! We wanted to take a moment to fill you in on some exciting happenings in the world of vaping – in light of the saddening vaping tax that hit us at 00:00 yesterday.

In May, we have spent quite a bit of time talking to the media about the vaping tax. We wanted to make sure all stakeholders, including adult smokers, vapers, and small businesses, understand how the tax is going to change the vaping landscape in South Africa.

We’ve also been focused on responsible packaging and labelling in the vaping industry. We've been spreading the word across our social media channels because we all want to be responsible citizens, right?

Now, for some exciting news! VPASA has teamed up with the eWasteAssociation of South Africa (eWASA) under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme – another industry first! This partnership is all about taking care of our environment and properly managing waste from vaping products.

We're thrilled to be part of this important initiative, and we invite all of you to do your part towards a waste-savvy South Africa. Keep an eye out and spread the word about our joint partnership’s initiatives.

As we recollect all that was May, VPASA was in Cape Town earlier this week throughout World Vape Day and World No Tobacco Day to attend the first briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Health about the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill. As many of you know, this has been in the making since 2017. VPASA will be involved in the process every step of the way. Look out for a Call for Public Comments from Parliament on this important bill for our industry. Your voice will make all the difference.

Lastly, a huge thank you for being part of our community and subscribing to our newsletter. We truly value your feedback, suggestions, and comments. Your voices help shape the industry and contribute to our economy. So keep them coming!

In case you forgot, We Are Not Tobacco!

Yours sincerely,

Asanda Gcoyi
VPASA CEO
 
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