On Thursday, 4 April, the Saeima in the final reading adopted amendments to the Law on the Handling of Tobacco Products providing that retail outlets will no longer be allowed to display tobacco products for customers, and it will only be possible to purchase tobacco products by choosing them from a price list.

The Saeima decided that the ban will enter into force on 1 October 2020.

“Smoking-induced oncological, pulmonary, cardiovascular and other diseases represent a frequent cause of premature death and disability. The new amendments are the continuation of the ongoing work by the Saeima on restricting smoking and they focus particularly on young people and on discouraging non-smokers from taking up this bad habit. Step by step we must work to make Latvia a healthier country,” stressed Andris Skride, Chairman of the Social and Employment Matters Committee.

The amendments prohibit retailers from displaying tobacco products to customers. This provision will apply to tobacco products, herbal products for smoking, electronic smoking devices and their cartridges, as well as the trademarks of these products. To inform customers about the availability of such products, upon request stores will have to provide customers with information sheets specifying the product name, price and quantity per package.

Similar restrictions on tobacco are already in place in several other European countries.

The new provision will not apply to duty-free shops, ships engaged in international voyages, as well as specialised smoke shops, provided that they are situated in separate premises with  separate entrance, and where the goods and trademarks are not visible from outside.

Furthermore, the amendments provide that the design of the packaging of tobacco products and other smoking products and devices cannot include national symbols of Latvia, as well as depictions of people and animated characters on the packaging of tobacco and other smoking products. The ban will apply to any exterior packaging of such products, and its design may not contain, for example, the national flag, pictures with recognisable persons and characters from animated films.

The amendments were proposed because, according to the guidelines for the implementation of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, promotion of smoking products and devices is a form of advertising and promotion, which shall be prohibited.

Tighter restrictions on the handling of tobacco products are further included in the amendments to the Law on the Handling of Tobacco Products, Herbal Products for Smoking, Electronic Smoking Devices and Their Liquids. The amendments will enter into force on 1 July 2019.

Saeima Press Service