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The Free Market Foundation is concerned that the South African government's plan to regulate vaping products will spur illicit trade? Pushing more people back to smoking combustible cigarettes and buying e-cigarettes from the black market.
The Free Market Foundation said: South Africa believes e-cigarettes are harmful and need regulation. But e-cigarettes are products that help reduce the harm of tobacco.
The total excise tax on e-cigarettes will increase from ZAR33.30 [$2.28] to ZAR346. The main reason smokers choose illegal products, which account for 42% of the informal cigarette market, is their low price. Illegal goods that do not comply with production standards are even more harmful.
The illicit cigarette market in South Africa has grown significantly during the temporary ban on tobacco, and the taxation of electronic cigarettes may lead to more rampant illicit trade in electronic cigarettes, just like the tobacco industry.