Kisumu traders oppose proposal to raise minimum smoking age

Speaking on the sidelines of a public participation exercise on the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill in Kisumu on Saturday, the traders said the proposed age limit could create challenges for both consumers and businesses.

The proposal to raise the minimum age for purchasing nicotine and tobacco products emerged during a stakeholders’ engagement forum on the Bill hosted by the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Health in Nairobi earlier in the week.

Committee Chairperson Dr James Nyikal said there appeared to be broad support for the proposal among stakeholders who had presented their views before the committee.

“There has been a lot of concurrence among the stakeholders on issues such as increasing the age of consent to purchase nicotine products from 18 to 21. We are happy as a committee because this will give us less work when we start considering the submissions,” he said.

However, Dan Ouma, Chairperson of the Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK) in Kisumu, questioned how the proposed age restriction would be implemented.

“They are trying to raise the smoking age limit from 18 years to 21 years. We are here to tell them that it is not possible because the implementation of the proposal is unclear. Does it mean that consumers now must produce ID cards before purchasing these products? Do we need to have people issued with new IDs? It is not clear how they intend to do this,” he said.

The traders also raised concerns over a proposal in the Bill to prohibit the sale of tobacco and nicotine products within a 100-metre radius of places frequented by children.

They argued that existing tobacco-control regulations already provide for designated smoking areas and questioned the need for an additional restriction.

The hospitality sector representatives further opposed a proposal requiring businesses dealing in tobacco and nicotine products to obtain specific licences from county governments.

They said the requirement would increase the cost of doing business, noting that businesses already pay single business permits to county governments.

The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Health concluded its public participation exercises on the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill in Kisumu and Nanyuki on Saturday.

The committee is expected to compile a report incorporating submissions received from stakeholders during public participation exercises conducted across the country before the Bill proceeds to the next stage of consideration.