International trade law

This chapter discusses the current state of the regulation of tobacco in Africa and reviews examples from three African countries, namely Kenya, Mauritius and Chad to highlight areas in tobacco control in which progress is being made. Tobacco control provides specific examples of the challenges faced in adoption and implementation of policies to counter the non-communicable diseases (NCD) epidemic and also offers lessons for dealing with the other risk factors. The process of adoption also created technical and advocacy capacity within government and civil society in Africa. The chapter discusses some factors facilitated the adoption of the Kenyan legislation and tobacco advocacy for subsequent taxation changes. It also presents the challenges faced by Kenya in the implementation of the Tobacco Control Act 2007 (TCA) and the proposed tax changes. The major challenge facing implementation of tobacco control legislation in Chad is the low priority given to tobacco control within the health and development agenda in Chad.