The European Commission has toughened laws on smoking, and from the beginning of 2013, smoking will be banned from a number of public spaces where it is currently allowed: taxis, company cars, parks for children and universities across the EU countries. Those who do not respect this rule will be fined up to RON 5,000 – or some EUR 1,100

Restaurant owners allowing smoking in their restaurants will not be permitted to let children onto the premises under the new rules.

Smoking will still be permitted in public spaces such as clubs, bars, discos and restaurants. Smoking is currently banned in Romania in shopping malls, hypermarkets, public transport, hospitals and schools. From 2008, Romania also enforced a regulation for cigarette producers, who had to put warning messages on cigarette packs.

The European Commission also wants to ban the sale of some flavored cigarettes and change the warning messages on cigarette packs via a new tobacco law which will be presented next week.

In Romania, one in four people is addicted to nicotine, and numbers show around a quarter of those over 15 smoke every day, while 2.4 percent are occasional smokers. In total, over 4.4 million people smoke daily in Romania, while 6.5 million are subject to passive smoking at home and 2 million at work.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)