http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/latvia.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/legislation/?doc=4917 http://tobacco.org/news/274211.html Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian finance ministers on Friday agreed to impose a veto on the suggestion of the European Commission to set higher excises on tobacco and fuel as of 2015 and to think about the euro adoption in 2011-2012. At the meeting held in Trakai on Friday, Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius, Latvian Finance Minister Atis Slakters and Estonian Finance Minister Ivari Padar underlined that each country would have to decide itself on the excises amount, informs ELTA. The Baltic Course Europe Lithuania Latvia Estonia Sun, 07 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://eng.novonews.lv/news/2008/11/05/latvia_en/006610.html http://tobacco.org/news/274032.html Euro Commissar regarding the social politics issue, Vladimir Shmidte suggests to enter the law to forbid smoking at working places across the EU countries. "We have to guarantee security of the working process, as smoking causes damages to the health" – he states. NovoNews news agency !--Rating@Mail.ru Europe Latvia Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://eng.novonews.lv/news/2008/06/16/latvia_en/005864.html http://tobacco.org/news/267031.html 44% of the Latvian population back the initiative of local doctors to ban smoking in children presence and introduce criminal responsibility for violators. 43% negatively reacted on the initiative, 7% said they did not care, and 6% had their own answers. Many respondents said there should be administrative penalties, say, fines. NovoNews news agency !--Rating@Mail.ru Latvia Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/baltic_news/?doc=940 http://tobacco.org/news/266750.html Seimas Deputy Speaker of Lithuania roposed to display visual information of tobacco harm on tobacco products Seimas Deputy Speaker Alfredas Pekeliunas proposes to oblige producers of tobacco items to provide not only warning notes but also visual information on harmful effect of tobacco products on every pack of a tobacco product sold to customers, informs LETA. The Baltic Course Latvia Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://eng.novonews.lv/news/2008/05/19/latvia_en/005703.html http://tobacco.org/news/265549.html Experts predict that a few years after smoking will become the cruelest killer destroying more people than any other disease. The biggest problem of smoking is refusal of smokers to admit that the habit brings them a lot of harm, TV5 said in "News Evening". However, there are many ways to assess the condition of the respiratory system. Members of the Saeima had a chance to get familiar with one of them right in the legislative body on Wednesday, May 8. Interest of parliamentarians to the purity of their breath was so great that they had to stand in line. 80 people participated in the activity. Non-smoker Aigars Kalvitis turned out to show the best results. But Jakov Pliner, Alexandr Golubev and Karlis Leiskalns, who smoke a box a day, found themselves on the opposite side of the rating. NovoNews news agency !--Rating@Mail.ru Latvia Thu, 08 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://eng.novonews.lv/news/2008/05/19/latvia_en/005717.html http://tobacco.org/news/265512.html Latvian doctors have recommended banning of smoking in the presence of children and bringing offenders to a criminal responsibility. The intention was revealed by President of the Latvian Society of Doctors Peteris Apinis in an interview with Radio Baltkom. NovoNews news agency !--Rating@Mail.ru Latvia Sat, 10 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/article3329537.ece http://tobacco.org/news/258024.html Customs Officers at Dublin Airport have smashed what's believed to be a major cigarette smuggling operation. Over 100-thousand cigarettes, valued at almost €40,000, have been seized from passengers on a flight from Eastern Europe. As part of an operation by Customs Officers, 112,000 cigarettes have been recovered from passengers on a flight from Riga in Latvia. Revenue had identified a particular gang, which based in Latvia, smuggling cigarettes through Dublin Airport and distributing them for sale on the black market throughout the country. Belfast Telegraph Ireland Latvia Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/7140523.stm http://tobacco.org/news/256647.html More than 120,000 cigarettes have been seized by customs officers from a gang of 13 people trying to smuggle them in via East Midlands Airport. The cigarettes were seized as the group returned on a flight from Riga, Latvia, on Tuesday afternoon. Officers said the group was mostly from Derbyshire. BBC Online UK Latvia Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/1107/breaking43.htm http://tobacco.org/news/255100.html Some 250,000 cigarettes have been seized by customs officers at Dublin airport in what they described as a "highly organised" smuggling operation. Officers from Revenue's Customs Service seized the cigarettes from passengers arriving on a flight from Riga, Latvia, yesterday, a statement said. "'Operation Swift'" was high profile operation targeting passengers arriving from the Latvian capital," the statement said. Irish Times news@irish-times.com Ireland Latvia Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6400907.stm http://tobacco.org/news/242977.html Latvia is holding a day of mourning for the 25 people who died in the country's worst fire since independence in 1991. The fire last Friday destroyed a care home for the disabled. The Latvian flag is flying at half-mast on all official buildings, and flags decorated with mourning ribbons are being flown across the country. It is thought the blaze was started by either an electrical fault or a discarded cigarette. . . . at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Monday, the Latvian welfare minister said it was more likely that someone smoking in bed on the building's third floor was to blame. Leading politicians, including Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis, called for an immediate ban on smoking in all the country's medical facilities. BBC Online Latvia Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.examiner.com/a-581901~Fire_in_Latvia_Leaves_25_Dead_or_Missing.html http://tobacco.org/news/242687.html RIGA, Latvia - Faulty electrical wiring may have sparked a catastrophic fire that raced through a home for the disabled in western Latvia on Friday, leaving 25 people dead or missing, rescuers said. By Friday evening, rescue workers had pulled 20 bodies from the badly charred three-story building in Alsunga, a town about 110 miles west of Riga, the capital. Five others were missing and presumed dead, said Inese Veisa of the State Fire and Rescue Service. Some 90 people, most of them mentally or physically disabled, were inside the 19th-century brick manor when the fire broke out just after midnight Friday, rescue officials said. . . . Alternately, investigators said, the fire might have been caused by someone smoking in bed. Due to the freezing temperatures residents were reluctant to smoke outdoors, as required. AP Latvia Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/17303 http://tobacco.org/news/242090.html Latvia's Health Ministry has renounced its intention to introduce a ban on smoking in streets, parks and public gardens. Amendments to the tobacco products sales law have been resubmitted to the government for consideration, minus the sections that propose a ban on smoking in public places. The paragraphs were deleted after Cabinet ministers voiced concerns about the ban in December. However other amendments to restrict smoking in public facilities remain valid. They stipulate the prohibition of smoking in all public buildings, such as cinemas, concert halls, gyms, post offices, and nightclubs. Baltic Times Latvia Mon, 12 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060627/hl_afp/latviahealthtobacco_060627121938 http://tobacco.org/news/226926.html A law banning smoking in public places is due to come into effect in Latvia on July 1, the health ministry has said. "The new restrictions stipulate that smoking will be allowed only in areas specifically designated for the purpose," health ministry spokeswoman Zaiga Bravida said Tuesday. As of next month, smoking will not be allowed in the workplace, common stairwells, schools, health and rehabilitation facilities, cinemas, concert halls and sports centres. Open-air cafes and public transportation stops are also covered . . . Around 47 percent of men and 18 percent of women in Latvia smoke regularly Agence France Presse Latvia Wed, 28 Jun 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=5584-qqqx=1.asp http://tobacco.org/news/225639.html CRIMINAL gangs from the Baltic states are operating a highly organised cigarette smuggling operation into Ireland, according to the Revenue Commissioners. The emergence of the trafficking route is directly responsible for a massive jump in the number of cigarette seizures last year. . . . He said most of the smuggling is done in suitcases, and an unknown amount of consignments were getting through. Customs believe the cigarettes are being sold to people from the Baltic states, through their own shops. Irish Examiner Ireland Lithuania Poland Latvia Estonia Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=253122&ChannelId=49 http://tobacco.org/news/208885.html Latvian lawmakers endorsed a new code of ethics designed to burnish the legislature's reputation that would prohibit deputies swearing and smoking in public. The code, supported by over three-quarters of lawmakers, also obliges them to be polite in public and advises them to shun events where their presence could undermine the prestige of parliament. TerraNet Latvia Fri, 28 Oct 2005 04:00:00 GMT