Cigarette producers in Romania stand up against a proposal to ban smoking in closed public places.

They have recently submitted at the Chamber of Deputies a point of view on this issue, asking for an impact study on the proposed smoking ban.

The chain effect of banning smoking can lead to the loss of 20,000 jobs and can halve the turnover for about 50% of the units that sell cigarettes, cigarette producers said.

They also claim that the decrease in cigarette sales can lead to a drop in sales for other products. A smoker’s shopping basket is 30% bigger than a non-smoker’s, according to the document. In March, the Parliament banned smoking in public institutions.

The tobacco industry is the second largest producer to the Romanian state budget, after oil companies. In 2014, tobacco makers paid some EUR 2.7 billion to the state budget, in excises, taxes and VAT. That was 1.75% of the GDP, and 12.5% of the total budget revenues.

Editor@romania-insider.com