Bill on Protection of Non-Smokers Presented for a Public Debate

The Public Health Authority (UVZ) submitted to parliament for a public discussion a draft amendment to the law on protection of non-smokers. Inspired by legislation in Ireland, Italy, Norway, Malta, Great Britain and Sweden, the Slovak Health Ministry and the Public Health Authority elaborated a draft revision to the law on protection of non-smokers. The aim of the draft amendment is to improve conditions for protection of non-smokers in public places, chiefly through a ban on smoking in restaurants with an area exceeding fifty square meters. The authors of the draft hope to restrict the choice of tobacco products by imposing a ban on the sale of cigarettes through vending machines and in food shops with starting from 2008.
The goal of the regulations is to supervise more strictly the sale of tobacco products to persons aged under 18, as well. Slovakia obliged itself to adapt regulations on smoking in public places to EU norms.