http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/bulgaria.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136278 http://tobacco.org/news/333116.html The Tobacco Fund, Bulgaria's state unit in charge of subsidies for tobacco growers, was officially disbanded at a cabinet sitting Wednesday. The entity had been rendered obsolete by EU requirements, which mandated that tobacco funds be integrated in the state's overall policy for subsidizing agriculture. In line with that, starting 2011 tobacco money passed under the authority of the Agriculture Fund entity at Bulgaria's Ministry of Agriculture and Foods. "The Tobacco Fund is being closed down, for it is no longer serving its purpose," commented Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture. Novinite.com Bulgaria Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=135894 http://tobacco.org/news/332444.html Bulgaria will ban smoking in closed public spaces in the summer of 2012, the country's Health Minister Stefan Konstantinov has declared. There is enough political support in place for passing the necessary amendments, Konstantinov has told the local Darik radio. The Health Minister stated that he was not bothered by the deputy head of the parliamentary commission on agriculture being against the full smoking ban, adding that he hoped to convince the MP to change his stance. Bulgaria's cabinet recently issued an official proposal to introduce a full smoking ban for closed public areas on June 1, 2012. Novinite.com Bulgaria Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n268748 http://tobacco.org/news/332100.html “On January 14 at around 7:30 a.m. the border police patrol at the Gotse Delchev border police unit in the village of Nova Lovcha, municipality of Hadzhidimovo – close to the state border, stopped for a check a freight vehicle with registration in the city of Sofia. The vehicle was driven by a Bulgarian citizen, a 32-year-old man from Sofia. During the check authorities found 667 master-cases or some 6,670,000 pieces of cigarettes. The truck entered the territory of Bulgaria illegally through the green border from Greece,” Penov explained. Focus English News focus@focus-news.net Bulgaria Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=135679 http://tobacco.org/news/332045.html Bulgaria has one of the highest smokers' rates in the EU at some 39% of people declaring themselves daily smokers, topped only by Greece at 42%. File photo 60% of the Bulgarian citizens are in favor of the full smoking ban in closed public spaces that is expected to be introduced later in 2012, a poll conducted by Gallup has revealed. The poll has also shown that the number of smokers in the country has decreased by 2%. Approximately 39% of all Bulgarians were smokers in 2011, compared with 41 in 2010. People aged between 26 and 40 are the most fervent smokers in Bulgaria, 55% of them being "slaves" to the bad habit. Novinite.com Bulgaria Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n268348 http://tobacco.org/news/331914.html Kapitan Andreevo. Bulgarian customs officers have seized more than 11 master cases of illegal cigarettes only in a week at Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, announced the National Customs Agency. In 135 checks, which were carried out in the first week of 2012, the customs officers seized 5,605 packets of cigarettes and 13,6 kg of loose tobacco. Focus English News Bulgaria Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n268253 http://tobacco.org/news/331848.html Customs officers at Kalotina checkpoint found 664 boxes of illegal cigarettes in the international train from Serbia to Bulgaria during the weekend, the press office of the National Customs Agency announced. Focus English News Bulgaria Serbia Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=135455 http://tobacco.org/news/331845.html Cigarette smuggling dropped by over 20% in 2011, according to Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov. In a Friday interview for the morning broadcast of Nova TV, he explained that the current rate of illegal sales of cigarettes was 20%. In Tanov's words, producers of legal cigarettes also admitted that smuggling had dropped twofold in 2011. The Customs Agency head boasted that Bulgaria, being an external EU border, was the sole Member State to achieve such a result for the past year. Novinite.com Bulgaria Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2012-01-05&article=38087 http://tobacco.org/news/331837.html the Bulgarians are changing their habits to healthier life, statistics shows. During the period 1999-2010 people in Bulgaria have cut down the number of cigarettes they had smoked almost by half. However, the daily package of cigarettes still empties the Bulgarian’s pocket. Standart News Bulgaria Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n267522 http://tobacco.org/news/331306.html Ruse. Customs officers in the northern Bulgarian city of Ruse have found 2,000 packets of cigarettes without excise labels and documents for paid excise duty, the National Customs Agency announced. The cigarettes were discovered in a bus traveling from Greece to Romania. They were hidden in four suitcases owned by a Romanian national who was traveling in the bus. The case and offender were referred to the investigating bodies. Focus English News Bulgaria Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n267251 http://tobacco.org/news/331119.html Customs officers at the Kalotina customs checkpoint found 1,000 boxes of cigarettes, hidden among baby pacifiers, the National Customs Agency announced. The cigarettes were transported by a Man freight vehicle, travelling from Germany to Turkey. The truck arrived at the checkpoint on December 25, loaded with pacifiers and car parts, as stated in the presented documents. Focus English News Bulgaria Tue, 27 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n266575 http://tobacco.org/news/330754.html Kapitan Andreevo. Customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint have seized 2,768 boxes and 9 kilos of tobacco from 71 passengers over the last four days. The cigarettes and the tobacco were confiscated as they topped the admissible duty-free import, the press office of the National Customs Agency announced. Focus English News Bulgaria Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n266466 http://tobacco.org/news/330615.html Bulgarian customs officers in the northern city of Ruse on Danube Bridge have found 6,870 packets of cigarettes in a Romanian bus, the country’s National Customs Agency announced. The bus was traveling from Greece via Bulgaria to Romania with over 30 passengers with Romanian citizenship in it. The cigarettes, whose brand is Chesterfield and which hold a Ukrainian excise label, were hidden in upholstery and floor of the bus. It is not clear how the cigarettes were bought in Turkey. This is the second similar case with this bus in the past 45 days. Focus English News Bulgaria Romania Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/12/13/1389254_bulgarian-health-minister-to-submit-smoking-ban-proposal http://tobacco.org/news/330483.html On December 14 2011, Bulgaria's Health Minister Stefan Konstantinov will present to the Cabinet a proposal to ban completely smoking in closed public places, effective from June 1 2012, he said in an interview with Bulgarian National Television (BNT). Under the current provisions of the law, public establishments must have separate areas for smokers and non-smokers. Representatives of the restaurant business are pushing for a delay of the ban until 2013 or 2014. "The ministry is fighting for the nation's health. It is our priority to prevent smoking-related diseases, not struggle to provide better care once these people find themselves in hospital, " Konstantinov told BNT. He said that the Cabinet is not opposed to his proposal because the amount of money lost through health care expenses and reduced life expectancy exceeds many times excise revenues. Sofia Echo Bulgaria Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hYEHsj_8uXJrST_NSYBalxKS-jJA?docId=CNG.16450d4ba80bc858ad30aefc1bfcbd54.221 http://tobacco.org/news/330482.html The government of tobacco-addicted Bulgaria proposed Wednesday a total ban on smoking from June 1 in enclosed public places, including cafes, bars and restaurants, its press office said. The small Balkan country, home to the European Union's second-heaviest smokers after Greece, banned the habit in all government buildings, public transport, trains, cinemas, schools and kindergartens in 2005. But bars, cafes and restaurants were allowed to have separate smoking and non-smoking sections, while establishments smaller than 100 square metres (around 1,100 square feet) could choose for themselves. Agence France Presse Bulgaria Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=134796 http://tobacco.org/news/330439.html Bulgaria will introduce a full smoking ban for closed public areas on June 1 2012, the country's Health Minister Stefan Konstantinov has reiterated. On Wednesday, Konstantinov will submit his proposal for a full smoking ban to the country's Council of Ministers. "The Ministry of healthcare is fighting to make Bulgaria's people healthier," Konstantinov told the Bulgarian National Television early on Tuesday, pointing out that the system's main aim is to prevent the population from getting sick rather than treat it when it already suffers from illnesses. Konstantinov stated that his proposal will be backed by the Council of Ministers, since the potential costs for medical treatment of smokers would otherwise greatly exceed what could be gathered by the state in terms of cigarette excise taxes. Novinite.com Bulgaria Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT