Tobacco Control: Amendment Bill Could Expose Children To Nicotine Products – CSOs Warn

The Nigeria Tobacco Control Community, a coalition of more than 100 civil society groups, health advocates and public-interest organisations, has called on the National Assembly to immediately recall the National Tobacco Control Act (Amendment) Bill 2025, alleging that the proposed legislation would weaken existing safeguards and expose young Nigerians to tobacco and nicotine products.

The coalition said the bill, despite containing some positive provisions, would create regulatory loopholes for emerging products such as vapes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches, thereby undermining the gains made under the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and its 2019 Regulations.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, who read the coalition’s statement, described the bill as a “major public health danger disguised as legislative reform.”

The group acknowledged that the 2015 tobacco control law requires updating to address changes in the tobacco and nicotine market, but argued that modernising the law should not translate into weaker regulations for new products.

According to the coalition, some provisions in the bill, including Clause 5, which extends smoke-free zones to within 30 metres of schools and health facilities, and Clause 3, which proposes adding the Nigeria Police Force and the Ministry responsible for youth development to the National Tobacco Control Committee, are positive.

However, it said the provisions could not compensate for what it described as “reckless changes” introduced elsewhere in the bill.

The coalition particularly criticised the proposed introduction of “tobacco harm reduction objectives” into the purposes of the Act, arguing that the concept could be used to justify lighter regulation of emerging tobacco and nicotine products.

It also rejected the proposed classification of heated tobacco products as non-combustible products, arguing that such a distinction could remove them from the legal definition of tobacco products despite containing tobacco.

“Heating it instead of burning it does not remove its toxicity or addictiveness,” the group said, insisting that all tobacco and nicotine products should be subjected to strong and uniform regulations.

The coalition further raised concerns over provisions that would permit advertising of non-combustible products through adult publications, point-of-sale materials and online platforms, as well as sponsorship of cultural, social and recreational events.

It faulted the bill’s definition of an “adult publication” as one with at least 50 per cent adult readership, arguing that such a threshold could allow tobacco and nicotine advertisements to appear in publications with substantial numbers of underage readers.

The groups also opposed proposed provisions permitting online sales, remote orders, mail, shipping and courier delivery of non-combustible products, saying age-verification mechanisms could be circumvented and would be difficult to enforce across Nigeria’s large digital and informal retail environment.

According to the coalition, allowing indoor vaping for product sampling, point-of-sale promotional materials and sponsorship of events could further increase young people’s exposure to nicotine products, particularly through social media.

It also criticised the proposed reduction in health-warning requirements for novel tobacco and nicotine products.

The group said while conventional tobacco packaging currently requires 60 per cent graphic health warnings, the proposed amendment would introduce weaker warning requirements for vape liquids and nicotine pouches, while exempting some e-cigarette and heating devices from carrying health warnings.

The coalition further expressed concern over provisions in the Third Schedule that would allow manufacturers to generate, hold and internally approve their own safety dossiers, arguing that public health regulation should not depend on undisclosed evidence generated by tobacco companies.

It also questioned a proposed provision granting the Minister of Health power to exempt non-combustible products from provisions of the law on undefined “public interest” grounds, warning that such powers could expose regulation to lobbying and regulatory capture.

The groups alleged that several of the controversial provisions were not contained in the earlier versions of the legislation presented at a public hearing in November 2024.

“When HB 47 and HB 1151, now consolidated into a single Bill, were presented at a public hearing on 22 November 2024, they contained none of these worrying concessions,” the coalition said.

It, therefore, demanded the publication of committee reports, voting records and stakeholder submissions that informed the development of the current version of the bill.

The coalition also called on the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to publicly clarify its position on the legislation and demand its recall if it was not adequately consulted.

It urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to withhold assent if the bill, in its current form, eventually reaches his desk.

The group called for a single, product-neutral regulatory framework covering all tobacco and nicotine products, insisting that advertising, sponsorship, sampling, retail display and remote sales should remain prohibited.