Sellers between the ages of 18 and 20 have the right to sell tobacco products to buyers who are at least 20 years old.
Flavorings that create the smell or taste of tobacco will be permitted as exceptions for e-liquids and tobacco substitute products.
It is prohibited to sell tobacco products, tobacco substitute products, electronic smoking devices and their refill containers to the consumer, and it is prohibited for the consumer to purchase them by means of distance communication, including outside the territory of a member state of the European Union or the territory of the European Economic Area.
The law already stipulates that the State Revenue Service (SRS) and the Health Inspectorate (VI) have the right to conduct sampling of tobacco products, herbal smoking products, electronic smoking devices, refill tanks and newly introduced tobacco products at sales points and excise goods warehouses.
Now these SRS and VI rights have also been determined regarding the sampling of tobacco substitute products.
The SRS has also established the right to confiscate tobacco products, tobacco substitute products, electronic smoking devices and their refill containers sent by commercial mail from third countries, the recipient of which is a natural person.
The State Police (SP) and the municipal police already have the right to monitor compliance with the ban on the sale of tobacco products, herbal smoking products, electronic smoking devices and refill tanks in specific places. Now, in the law, these rights are also extended to tobacco substitute products.
Also, the VP and municipal police will control that distance contracts are not used for the purchase of these products, that these products are not sold to persons who have not reached the appropriate age, and that smoking does not take place in prohibited places. Part of this regulation was already in place.
At the same time, there is a restriction on producing and placing on the market tobacco products and other smoking products that visually resemble sweets, snacks, as well as toys.
The amendments to the law also strengthen the requirements that tobacco substitute products must meet before they can be placed on the market, including composition requirements, packaging design conditions and information that must be added to the products.
Fines are also imposed for violations of the regulations on the circulation of tobacco substitute products, such as their purchase on the Internet. Until now, tobacco heating devices, as well as tobacco substitute products, were not regulated by law.
A ban on smoking in places where gambling is organized is also established.
It is determined that the maximum concentration of nicotine in a tobacco substitute product does not exceed four milligrams per gram.
There is also a restriction that will also apply to existing tobacco products. It is specified that it is prohibited to sell tobacco products intended for smoking, including newly introduced tobacco products, which contain menthol, its analogues and geraniol. Therefore, the existing ban on the sale of such products, which contain additives that facilitate inhalation or nicotine intake, is clarified.
The law also increased penalties for violations of the circulation of tobacco products. For the sale of tobacco products, tobacco substitute products, herbal smoking products, electronic smoking devices or their filling tanks to persons under 20 years of age, a fine of 280 to 700 euros will be applied to the seller, and from 700 to 7100 euros to the legal entity. Until now, for the sale of these products to persons under the age of 18, the seller could be fined from 280 to 350 euros, and the legal entity – from 700 to 1400 euros.
The law also stipulates that it is forbidden to put cigarettes on the market that do not meet the burning and fire safety requirements for self-extinguishing cigarettes.