Flavored cigarettes banned in Romania starting May 20

Romania will forbid the sale of cigarettes and tobacco with fruit flavors, spices, sweets, and vanilla taste, said the Government spokesperson Dan Suciu. The Government approved yesterday a draft project that sets the norms for producing, packaging, and selling tobacco products. The draft project takes over the European law into the national legislation. The law will enter into force by May 20, said the Government spokesperson. The tobacco producers, however, are not happy about the tight deadline. “The deadlines are phantasmagoric,” said representatives of the tobacco producer JTI Romania, cited by local Economica.net. They argue that the Parliament can further change the law and that the producers can’t comply with the new rules in such a short period. Earlier this month, the three big tobacco producers in Romania asked the state to postpone the new rules, arguing that otherwise they wouldn’t be able to produce during the summer months and the local market would be invaded by contraband products. editor@romania-insider.com