Tobacco.org

Jadrolinija ferry company bans smoking in indoor areas 

Croatian national ferry firm Jadrolinija has announced a ban on smoking in indoor areas on all their ferries, four months before the new law restricting smoking enters into force.

"We have imposed a ban on smoking in all Jadrolinija offices and on all our ferries", firm official Ante Mrvica told daily newspaper 'Slobodna Dalmacija.' Passengers have accepted our decision without question", he added.

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Smoking ban in public places enters into force in Croatia 

Anti-tobacco law that bans smoking in all public institutions as well as work places has entered into force as of yesterday in Croatia.

The legislation allows a six month transitory period for bars, restaurants and the tobacco industry to conform to it.

After that, smoking at bars will only be allowed on terraces, while restaurants can allocate a separate room for smokers, but the establishments cannot serve food or drink in these areas.

A warning about health risks caused by smoking will have to cover 40 percent of the back of a cigarette pack, the legislation stipulates.

Fines of up to 2,100 euros for individuals and up to 21,000 euros for entrepreneurs will be imposed on those violating the smoking ban.

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• New anti-smoking law enters into force 

The new Croatian anti-smoking law entered into force on 7 November. It will ban smoking in public places but provides for a six-month period of adjustment for restaurants and cafes.

All educational, health and social institutions, however, with the exception of psychiatric institutions, have to comply with the new law as of 7 November.

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• Murdered Croatia Journalist Pukanic Was Key Witness on Balkan Tobacco Mafia 

The Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanic, who was murdered in Zagreb on October 23, had been one of the main witnesses in a Balkan cigarette contraband investigation of the police in the Italian city of Bari, the Italian Prosecutor Guiseppe Scelsi announced as quoted by the Trieste newspaper Il Piccolo.

Scelsi expressed the alarm of the Italian prosecution over the assassination of the owner of the Croatian newspaper Nacional, who was also its Editor-in-Chief, because it was going to affect the investigation against the Balkan cigarette smuggling mafia.

The Prosecutor also pointed out that another journalist who was also a witness in the tobacco contraband case - the Editor-in-Chief of Montenegro's Dan Daily Dusko Jovanovic - had been murdered in Podgorica on May 27, 2004.

According to Scelsi, the current Prime Minister and former President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic had also been investigated as potentially involved in the Balkan cigarette smuggling ring but the investigation against him would be terminated because of his diplomatic immunity.

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• Ban on smoking in public places in Croatia comes into effect  

A ban on smoking in public institutions and workplaces came into effect in Croatia on October 27 2008, while there is a six-month grace period for restaurants and bars to comply.

The tobacco industry in the country has six months to comply with a requirement to have health warnings on the backs of cigarette packets, covering 40 per cent of the area. Packets must also display graphic images of the consequences of smoking to discourage people from the habit.

Restaurants and bar will be allowed to permit smoking on terraces and may have separate smoking rooms, but no food or drink may be served in these rooms.

Breaking the law will carry huge fines

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• Smoking still thrives in Balkans, but for how long?  

Croatia -- where almost 13,000 people, the size of a small town -- die of smoking each year, became the first to take more concrete steps on Friday, when parliament passed a tough new anti-smoking bill.

The law banning cigarettes from all public places takes effect almost immediately, a move certain to displease almost one third of the European Union candidate country's 4.4 million people who smoke. Only cafe and restaurant owners will have a six-month transition period.

The law also restricts any smoking-related media campaigns.

"We want to do something for our health and catch up with European standards," Health Minister Darko Milinovic told parliament when presenting the bill this month. . . .

So, the ban is likely to improve quality of life here, but will almost certainly impact cafe owners, who depend very much on smoking clientele, but face a fine of up to 150,000 kuna ($28,180) if found in violation. . . .

Neighboring Serbia nominally banned smoking in public places in 1995 but the law has never been implemented and smokers can be seen everywhere in its sprawling capital Belgrade.

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Croatian Government Adopts Smoking Ban 

At its session on Tuesday, the Croatian government adopted the final bill on tobacco use.

The law bans smoking in all public areas, as well as the selling of tobacco products to persons under the age of 18 and the direct and indirect promotion of tobacco products.

Health Minister Darko Milinovic explained that the law did not define that employers had to secure a smoking area, but can do so, on condition that the area is not over 20 percent of the entire office.

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• Croatia moves to toughen anti-smoking law  

The Croatian government is to forward to the parliament a tough anti-tobacco bill introducing a public smoking ban, a minister said Thursday.

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"With the new law, we want to change people's (smoking) habits and protect non-smokers," Health Minister Darko Milinovic said.

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The bill, in line with standards of the European Union

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Croatia moves to toughen anti-smoking law 

The Croatian government is to forward to the parliament a tough anti-tobacco bill introducing a public smoking ban, a minister said Thursday.

"With the new law, we want to change people's (smoking) habits and protect non-smokers," Health Minister Darko Milinovic said.

The bill, in line with standards of the European Union which Zagreb aspires to join by 2010, envisages a smoking ban in all education, health and social institutions as well as work places.

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• No To Smoking, Yes To Cigarette Production 

ZAGREB, CROATIA - The law on Smoking ban in public, which will be included in Croatian Parliamentary procedure next week, should display the state`s concern for the health of smokers, as well as non-smokers. But, a question arises straight away, if the state really takes care of its citizens, why does it not ban the production of cigarettes in Croatia?

- Because three billion kuna (40,000,000 euro) go to the state budget from sale and production of cigarettes per year. Also, imagine the number of people that would loose their jobs - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) member Andrija Hebrang had a ready answer.

He believes that banning production is not the answer, because it would simply be compensated with import.

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Tobacco purchase in Jaka Tabak 

Tobacco producer Jaka Tabak started with tobacco repurchase in Radov region, which is the second largest in Macedonia. There will be 8 spots of repurchase. 3,950 subcontractors are expected to provide 2,700 to 3,000 tons of "strong" kind tobacco. The tobacco is of the same quality as last year, but the yield is decreased by 10 to 15 percent due to draught.

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Prosecution probes tobacco smuggling 

-- The Special Organized Crime Prosecution launched an investigation into a tobacco smuggling ring led by Anton Stanaj.

Stanaj was arrested at Belgrade Airport on September 13, while waiting to board a flight to Podgorica.

Interior Minister Dragan Jo�i� confirmed at the time that five more persons suspected of belonging to the same group had been apprehended, including Pajo Juri�, Stevan Stevanovi�, Erik Karadzon, Slavisa Jurisi� i Sre�ko Miranovi� . . .

Joćić explained that cigarettes had been smuggled from China, Croatia and Dubai, transferred via the ports of Bar in Montenegro, Bari in Italy and Rijeka in Croatia to reach Serbia and Hungary.

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Croatian Customs Officers Smuggling Cigarettes 

Corruption and Organized Crime Prevention Office (USKOK), the police and Customs succeeded in breaking an international cigarette smuggling chain, with at least 20 people arrested from Split and Zagreb, the Jutarnji list daily writes.

Allegedly, one of the arrested persons is 45-year-old Gojko Beus, already known to the police. He was trailed several years earlier for organising a group that smuggled cigarettes, valued at several million kuna. Beus was given a 9-month prison sentence, which he “sat out” in custody, awaiting the trial.

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• Croatia mourns dead firefighters; police suspect a man of starting fire with cigarette butt  

Croatia held a national day of mourning on Monday for eight firefighters killed by a wildfire, the nation's worst such disaster. A man is in custody accused of starting the fire by dropping a cigarette. . . .

Police suspect that Thursday's fire on the central Croatian island of Kornat was caused by a 20-year-old local man throwing a cigarette butt into dry grass.

The man, identified by Croatian media as Pasko Petrina, is being held in detention and a district prosecutor is expected to launch a formal investigation against him later in the day. Petrina's lawyer, Branko Baica, said his client denied any blame.

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Zagreb's smokers wake up and smell the coffee 

Unlike practically every other café in this part of the world, the prized smell of the coffee is unimpeded by competing cigarette fumes or the musty after-scent of tobacco ashes.

Eli's is, as far as Mr Orosi knows, "probably the only no-smoking café in the Balkans". Cigarette smoking is prevalent in the region, and the incidence of associated lung disorders also high. But the Italian-trained barista insists he had no health agenda with the smoking ban in his 16-seat indoor space.

"I'm a coffee lover," Mr Orosi explains. "My idea was to permit the ultimate sensory feeling."

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