Public Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Tobacco Control of Advertisements and Sale Act 2015

The Ministry of Health (MOH), together with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), will be holding a public consultation to seek views from the public from 25 June to 24 July 2015 on proposed amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act (TCASA), as part of Singapore’s continued efforts to strengthen its tobacco control measures.

2    The Tobacco (Control of Advertisement and Sale) Act prohibits advertisements, promotions and sponsorships relating to tobacco products and their use, controls the use of tobacco products by young persons, as well as regulates the sale, packaging and trade description of tobacco products.

3    MOH, HPB and HSA are proposing amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act to:

a)    Prohibit Point-of-Sale Displays (POSD) of tobacco products
The POSD ban aims to reduce exposure of non-smokers, especially youth, to the advertising effects of Point-of-Sale displays. It also aims to reduce the likelihood of tobacco products being purchased on impulse and thereby help smokers who are trying to quit.

Under the proposed ban, tobacco retailers will be required to keep tobacco products out of the direct line of sight of patrons, in permanent, self-closing and opaque storage units within their stores.  The specific design or types of storage devices will not be prescribed. Penalties like fines will be imposed if retailers do not comply with the requirements in the Regulations.

b)    Make further amendments relating to POSD ban

The Act will be amended to allow tobacco retailers to show text-only price lists of tobacco products to customers upon request. While such price lists are currently prohibited as they can be considered as a form of advertisement, an exception will be provided in the amended Act. This way, customers will not need to request to view the tobacco products within the storage units for an extended period of time, thus reducing the period for which other customers are exposed to the tobacco product.

In addition, Section 13 of the Act will be amended to allow the Government to standardise and prescribe specifications for the visual characteristics of “No Sale to Minors” signage used by retailers.

c)    Make other technical and administrative amendments

A number of administrative and technical amendments are proposed to streamline operational and enforcement aspects of the Act, to update the Act for better control of imitation tobacco products and tobacco promotions, advertisements and sponsorship, and to fine-tune the existing law.

4    MOH had previously sought feedback on the above measures through a public consultation in June 2013. All feedback received through the public consultation was duly considered. Trade engagement sessions with tobacco retailers were also conducted in November 2014, to address their potential concerns with the introduction of the POSD ban.

5    Following this public consultation and engagement sessions, the Tobacco (Control of Advertisement and Sale) Act will be amended.

6    MOH-HPB-HSA would like to invite the public to submit feedback on the drafting of the proposed amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act. Public may use the feedback form available at www.moh.gov.sg/tcasa2015. All feedback should reach the Ministry of Health by 24 July 2015, 1700hrs.