Romania ranks seventh in the European tobacco restrictions ranking, ahead of countries such as Denmark, Greece, Switzerland or Lithuania, according to the independent report "The Scale of Tobacco Control Policies".

The least restrictions are in Austria, Germany and Luxembourg, and the most in countries where the market for low-risk products as an alternative to smoking has already developed: the UK and France (electronic cigarettes) and Norway, Sweden and Finland (nicotine products for oral use).

The main indicators in compiling the ranking were: banning smoking in closed public spaces; compliance with anti-smoking legislation; prohibiting any form of advertising and promotion of tobacco products; placing images and warnings on the packaging of tobacco products; the budget for tobacco control policies; the price of tobacco products; treatment options for tobacco addicts.

Romania is also among the few European countries where smoking in public places is completely forbidden, according to the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP).

Separately, Romania is the third-largest tobacco producer in the European Union and the tobacco industry lobbies for fighting traffic rather than levying high excise taxes. Tobacco companies argue by saying that they directly create nearly 5,000 jobs and another 50,000 jobs indirectly through the supply and distribution chain.

editor@romania-insider.com

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