Stakeholders Urge Parliament to Reconsider Flavour Ban in Tobacco Control Bill
Stakeholders in Kenya’s emerging nicotine-products sector are urging Parliament to reconsider proposed restrictions on flavours in vapes and nicotine pouches, warning that a blanket ban could undermine smoking-cessation efforts and push some consumers towards illicit markets.
The concerns have emerged during nationwide public participation on the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to amend the Tobacco Control Act, 2007, and establish a regulatory framework for electronic cigarettes, nicotine pouches and other emerging nicotine products.
The Bill, sponsored by nominated Senator Catherine Mumma, was read for the first time in the National Assembly on March 31, 2026, and subsequently referred to the Departmental Committee on Health for consideration and reporting. Parliament has been conducting public hearings to gather views from consumers, businesses, health advocates and other stakeholders.
The Campaign for Safer Alternatives (CASA) said it supports stronger tobacco control measures, including protecting young people from nicotine use and enforcing age restrictions against retailers who sell nicotine products to minors.
However, the organisation said Parliament should distinguish between measures designed to prevent youth access and restrictions that could make alternatives less attractive to adult smokers seeking to quit cigarettes.
CASA’s latest member survey, cited by the organisation, found that half of respondents use vapes or nicotine pouches to help them quit smoking.
Read: Stakeholders Call for Review of Proposed Tobacco Bill as Public Participation Begins
The survey further found that 53 per cent of respondents said flavours helped them remain off cigarettes, while 43 per cent said flavours helped them reduce their cigarette consumption. Only 14 per cent identified tobacco as their preferred flavour.
CASA said the responses raised concerns about the potential consequences of removing flavours from the market.
According to the survey, 32 per cent of respondents said they would return to smoking if flavours were removed, while 18 per cent said they would smoke more. A further 33 per cent said they would seek flavoured products through alternative sources.
The organisation argues that such a shift could undermine efforts to move adult smokers away from combustible tobacco products while creating opportunities for illicit suppliers operating outside formal regulatory controls.
The flavour debate comes against the backdrop of broader proposed restrictions under the Bill.
The legislation proposes banning non-tobacco flavours, restricting online sales and hawking of nicotine products, introducing a 100-metre buffer between schools and licensed nicotine-product outlets, limiting nicotine bottles to 10ml and capping nicotine concentration at 20mg per millilitre.
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It would also require plain packaging with prominent health warnings and introduce restrictions on digital advertising, including promotions by social media influencers.
Health advocates supporting the Bill argue that stronger regulation is necessary to prevent a new generation of young people from becoming addicted to nicotine.
The Kenya Tobacco and Nicotine Tax Coalition has called for the National Assembly to retain the Bill’s proposed regulatory measures, arguing that emerging products have entered the Kenyan market faster than existing laws have evolved.
The coalition has particularly raised concerns about flavours, attractive packaging, product designs and marketing approaches that it says could make nicotine products appealing to children and adolescents.
Government data also points to the scale of the public-health challenge. The Ministry of Health says tobacco use contributes to approximately 12,000 deaths annually in Kenya and has warned that emerging products such as vapes, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches present new regulatory challenges.
The World Health Organization similarly maintains that all forms of tobacco use are harmful and that nicotine is particularly harmful to children, adolescents and young adults because their brains are still developing.
However, evidence concerning flavours and adult smoking cessation is more nuanced.
A longitudinal study involving adult smokers who also used nicotine vaping products found that those using sweet flavours were more likely to have quit smoking at follow-up than those using tobacco-flavoured products. The researchers cautioned, however, that the study showed an association rather than proving that flavours themselves caused people to quit.
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Separate research led by Yale School of Public Health researchers has also examined the unintended effects of flavour restrictions. A 2024 analysis reported that restrictions on flavoured e-cigarettes were associated with reduced vaping among young adults but also an increase in traditional cigarette smoking relative to what would otherwise have been expected. The researchers said the findings highlight the need to consider effects across different nicotine products when designing tobacco-control policies.
The issue of illicit trade has also featured prominently in Kenya’s hearings.
Businesses and industry stakeholders have warned that additional restrictions and licensing requirements could increase compliance costs and create incentives for illegal trade. During recent hearings, the Retail Trade Association of Kenya and the Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya questioned proposed additional licensing requirements for retailers and tobacco sellers.
The government, meanwhile, has intensified enforcement against illicit tobacco products. In July, authorities seized 17,640 packets of cigarettes concealed beneath hides and skins during a multi-agency operation in Thika, with the Ministry of Health warning that illicit tobacco undermines public health and government revenue.
The illicit-trade concern is therefore not limited to the proposed Bill. The World Health Organization estimates that about one in 10 tobacco products consumed globally is illicit and says effective enforcement against illicit trade remains an important component of tobacco-control policy.
CASA is calling for Parliament to adopt what it describes as a targeted regulatory approach — including strict age verification, penalties for retailers who sell to minors, controls on marketing and packaging aimed at children, and restrictions on flavours specifically designed to appeal to young people.
The organisation maintains that protecting young people from nicotine use and helping adult smokers move away from cigarettes do not have to be competing objectives.
The debate is now before Parliament as the Departmental Committee on Health considers submissions gathered during the public participation exercise.
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The committee’s task will be to weigh the competing concerns around youth protection, public health, smoking cessation, legitimate business, taxation, enforcement and illicit trade before finalising its report for consideration by the National Assembly.
For CASA, the central question is whether the proposed measures will ultimately help reduce cigarette smoking.
The organisation says regulations should protect children while ensuring that adult smokers seeking alternatives are not inadvertently pushed back towards combustible cigarettes or towards unregulated markets.
The public hearings therefore provide Parliament with an opportunity to examine not only the intended benefits of the proposed restrictions, but also their possible effects on consumer behaviour, smoking cessation, legitimate businesses and the illicit market before the Bill proceeds to the next stage of consideration.
