Nairobi — Nairobi traders have urged the Senate to reconsider the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, warning that some of its proposals could trigger a surge in illicit tobacco products.
The business owners said a proposed ban on flavours in nicotine and tobacco products would hurt legitimate traders and push consumers toward contraband alternatives. Similar concerns have been raised by traders in Mombasa, Eldoret and Nakuru.
The Bill, sponsored by ODM Nominated Senator Catherine Mumma, seeks to amend the Tobacco Control Act of 2007 and introduce new regulations for emerging products such as vapes and nicotine pouches. One of its key provisions is a ban on flavours, which supporters say are attractive to minors.
Traders, however, argue that the measure could worsen the already thriving illicit market. They cited recent seizures, including a January operation in which a multi-agency team led by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Anti-Counterfeit Authority confiscated 9.3 million sticks of contraband cigarettes at the Port of Mombasa valued at Sh281 million.
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"Only this January, a multi-agency team including KRA and the anti-counterfeit agency seized 9.3 million sticks of contraband cigarettes at the port of Mombasa which were valued at KES 281 million. This operation follows a similar one in September last year where contraband cigarettes worth KES 29 million were seized by KRA," said Boniface Gachoka, Secretary General of the Bars, Hotels, and Liquor Traders Association of Kenya (BAHLITA).
"Banning flavours in these products will immediately open doors to a flood of illicit products. Legitimate businesses like ours will lose out as consumers will go for the cheaper, illicit products. Before you know it, entire businesses will close and the government will lose billions of shillings which would have otherwise been collected as taxes," he added.
The traders instead urged senators to prioritise enforcement of existing laws under the Tobacco Control Act of 2007, which already restrict access to tobacco and nicotine products by persons under 18 years.
"We ask the Senate to allow the government to strictly enforce existing laws on tobacco regulation - which already cover the key issues which the current bill seeks to regulate," they said, calling on lawmakers to reject the proposed flavour ban as the Bill heads to the Committee Stage for further deliberation.
