Tobacco.org

• Smoking Ban Approved in Georgia 

The Parliament of Georgia ratified the World Health Organisation Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and undertook the obligation of restricting tobacco consumption and realization across the country.

Discussion of those bills, coming from the convention, is also launched by the Parliament. After passing them, it will be banned to trade with open packs of cigarettes.

The bill envisions restriction of tobacco consumption, namely smoking in pre-school playgroups, educational and other institutions/organizations, destined for minors less than 18 years, all across the gasoline stations, in all places, where inflammable materials are kept, as well as in all working places

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• Parliament considers smoking restrictions 

A planned amendment to the Georgian Administrative Procedural Code provides for confiscation of incomes generated from the illegal trade of tobacco products. The bill will be implemented together with a bill amending the Tobacco Control Law. The law would prohibit the selling of cigarettes within 50 meters of any health and education facilities. The bill amending the Tobacco Control Law, which was approved by the parliamentary sectoral economics committee on Wednesday, also provides for serious restrictions on smoking. In particular smoking would be prohibited in places used for public gatherings, in buildings used by public organizations and near fuel stations. The managers of state organizations will have to allocate specially ventilated sections for smoking.

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• Lights Out For Georgia? 

Georgia's anti-smoking lobby scored a victory earlier in September when parliament passed a new law banning people from lighting up in public. But this is not a country where people stick to the rules - and this is one that smokers are unlikely to observe. . . .

The law had a rocky passage through parliament, where some deputies have connections with the tobacco industry.

Another obstacle was that many of the deputies smoke themselves . . .

The Georgians are among the world's heaviest users of tobacco per capita - 40 per cent of the country's 4.5 million people, and about half of all young men, smoke. According to the Georgian Alliance for Tobacco Control, 11,000 people die from tobacco-related diseases every year . . .

The tobacco lobby then did its best to curb the most restrictive aspects of the new law. Teimuraz Mikaberidze, financial manager for the tobacco firm GTM, confirmed that producers had extensive input in the drafting process. "We got some unacceptable points taken out, for example the provision that cigarette outlets must be at least 200 metre away from schools,"

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