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Austria wary of banning smoking 

While many European countries have imposed smoking bans in bars and restaurants, Austria, afraid of hurting businesses, has so far resisted legislation preventing people lighting up where they please.

After a six-month break, the ruling Social Democrats and conservatives returned to the negotiating table this week to discuss a no-smoking policy in public places, an issue that has deeply divided politicians.

Conservative Health Minister Andrea Kdolsky and the Social Democrats want to protect non-smokers without hurting businesses, while the environmental Greens and trade unions are calling for a total ban.

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• Austrian government agrees on smoking bans by 2009 

After months of intra-coalition wrangling, Austria's government on Wednesday agreed on introducing smoking bans in cafes and restaurants by January 1, 2009.

Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said the compromise found between Social Democrats and the conservative People's Party was a 'step in the right direction.'

The ban is, however, far from total, as restaurants will still be able to have smoking sections, albeit in separate rooms. At least 50 per cent of a restaurant's space must be non-smoking the government compromise said.

Restaurants, bars or cafes smaller than 50 square metres will have to decide whether to go all non-smoking or remain cigarette-friendly.

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• Sparks flying in cigarette dispute 

Industry and Trade Minister Martin Říman is now calling on groups afflicted by Austria’s limit on Czech cigarette imports, like the “trafika” newsstands dotting the border, to sue the country through the European Union legal system.

Austrians are allowed to bring only 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars or 250 grams of loose tobacco home from their visits to the Czech Republic — limits that technically should apply only to non-EU states. For member states, the EU sets guideline levels four times higher.

“This is not about getting more money to flow into the state treasury. It’s a matter of principle,” said Tomáš Bartovský, spokesman for the Industry and Trade Ministry. “[In this case] one EU member state is restricting the free trade of goods from another member state.”

It’s atypical for member states to file complaints against each other, hence Říman’s plea to tobacconists, Bartovský added.

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Anger After Students Allowed To Smoke On School Trip 

A COLLEGE has come under fire from parents and anti-smoking campaigners after a group of young students were allowed to smoke with staff supervision during a trip abroad.

More than 200 youngsters from Northallerton College, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, went on a skiing trip to Austria during the Easter holidays.

A group of 16 students, who are aged 15 and 16 and are not legally allowed to buy tobacco, were allowed to smoke cigarettes under the supervision of staff.

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Smoking costs hit Austrian economy  

Austria's economy is burdened by additional costs of 511 million euros ($A864.64 million), or 0.23 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product, per year due to smoking, according to a study just released.

If losses in productivity arising from smoking - including health care costs, or early retirement or death because of smoking-related illnesses - were deducted from the income generated by tobacco taxes, the negative economic effects were obvious, the Institute for Higher Studies said.

They compared the real costs and benefits with costs occurring in a hypothetical non-smoking society.

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• Austria wary of banning smoking  

While many European countries have imposed smoking bans in bars and restaurants, Austria, afraid of hurting businesses, has so far resisted legislation preventing people lighting up where they please.

After a six-month break, the ruling Social Democrats and conservatives returned to the negotiating table this week to discuss a no-smoking policy in public places, an issue that has deeply divided politicians.

Conservative Health Minister Andrea Kdolsky and the Social Democrats want to protect non-smokers without hurting businesses, while the environmental Greens and trade unions are calling for a total ban.

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A compromise deal, due to be presented in mid-May, suggests that all pubs, cafes and restaurants have a sectioned-off area for non-smokers

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Fans to light up at Euro 2008 

Vienna - Fans wishing to light up at Euro 2008 matches will be free to do so as neither Austria nor co-hosts Switzerland plan to apply a smoking ban in the stadiums.

News reports in both countries said domestic law permitted smoking in the stadiums and that Europe's football body Uefa will also not insist on a cigarette ban.

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• Most Austrians want humane ban on smoking 

A poll of 810 people by the Klagenfurt Humaninstituts shows that 44 per cent of Austrians favour a "humane" smoking ban in bars and restaurants, 32 per cent support a "radical" ban, and 24 per cent have no opinion. . . .

Institut head Franz Witzeling says that it should be possible to come up with a compromise solution to the question of smoking indoors in establishments open to the public without "panic-mongering."

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• EU to take Austria to court over minimum cigarette prices 

The EU Commission is going to take Austria to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the issue of the minimum price for cigarettes that Austrian law imposes.

The Commission has already lodged such a complaint against Ireland.

The ECJ ruled in 1998 in a case against Greece that minimum prices violated EU law since taxes on cigarettes were an adequate means of safeguarding public health.

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Half in Austria Oppose Restaurant Smoking Ban 

Many Austrians disagree with enacting a full prohibition on smoking in restaurants and other establishments were food is served, according to a poll by OGM. 50 per cent of respondents oppose a ban, while 42 per cent support it.

Tobacco is considered as the largest cause of avoidable death in the European Union (EU) . . .

On Jan. 15, Kitzbuehel Tourism Association chief Christian Harisch expressed support for a complete ban on smoking in Austrian gastronomic establishments, saying that the country has to portray itself as healthy and not as "Europe's smoking paradise." Harisch said a proposal put forward by the Health Ministry to allow owners of establishments with fewer than 75 square metres to decide whether they would be smoking or non-smoking was "complete nonsense."

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• Stretch limo to help quit smoking in Austria 

No more nicotine tablets and patches: the latest tool to help people quit smoking is a luxurious stretch limousine, according to a new anti-smoking campaign in Austria.

Where guilt and health concerns no longer work, financial incentives may be the answer for those wishing to give up their daily pack, the Austrian Nicotine Institute and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, who are behind the campaign, claim.

Their "Smoking instead of Smoking" initiative will accordingly tour Austrian shopping centres with a luxury stretch limo, meant to show nicotine addicts what they could now own if their money had not gone up in smoke.

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Fifty per cent oppose total ban on smoking 

An OGM poll shows that 50 per cent of Ausrians oppose a total ban on smoking in gastronomic establishments and that 42 per cent support it. Thirty-eight per cent of non-smokers also oppose a total ban. OGM expert Karin Cvrtila says that poll results suggest that Austrians would accept separate smoking and non-smoking areas in bars and restaurants. Poll results have changed a lot in recent months. Forty-eight per cent of Austrians supported a total ban in October, 2007, and 58 per cent did so in September, 2007.

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Japan Tobacco to close Linz plant in Austria 

Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) said Friday it will close its Linz factory in Austria by 2009, affecting 300 jobs in Linz and Vienna.

The decision came after "an extensive review of the manufacturing operations in Austria conducted as part of the integration plan for Gallaher, which was acquired by JT in April," the Japanese firm said in a statement.

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• Austria inches towards smoking ban 

The state-run railways OeBB announced on Friday that all its trains will be non-smoking from September 1 in order to step up its protection of non-smokers. Smoking bans were already in place in local trains, but following customer demand, the regulation was extended to all trains, OeBB head Martin Huber said.

Austria's Health Minister Andrea Kdolsky welcomed the decision. Following general European trends, she considers introducing smoking bans in restaurants and cafes by 2008.

As attempts to introduce a voluntary solution were not satisfactory, draft legislation was being prepared this autumn, Kdolsky said Wednesday evening.

Restaurants above a size of 75 square metres will be obliged to establish non-smoking sections.

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Letters: Smoking ban catches the public mood