Total ban on cigarette and tobacco adverts as from 1 January 2011

In a statement, the Health Department said that according to legal notice 344 (2010), “no person may advertise or allow to be advertised on any object whether moveable or not any cigarettes, cigars, tobacco or tobacco products.”

According to the same legal notice, the department added, “No person may sell or permit to be sold any other product except cigarettes and tobacco products from those automatic sales machines which are used to dispense cigarettes and tobacco products. In addition the sale from such machines is permitted only when these are continually supervised.”

The department also said that according to a second legal notice – also coming into force on 24 April, 2011 – cigarette packets are now required by law to carry pictorial warnings of the health consequences of smoking.

“All cigarettes packets which are placed on the market are to conform with the provisions of Legal Notice 302 of 2009 - that is all cigarette packets are to contain a pictorial warning,” the department said, adding that retailers should ensure that their tobacco product wholesalers supply them with the correct packaging.

The department also reminded the public that those responsible for any public-access premises ensure that nobody smokes any tobacco product in enclosed areas therein, in accordance with Legal Notice 23 of 2010.

“It is to be clarified that enclosed area means any space covered by a roof and enclosed by more than one wall or side, regardless of the material used for the roof, walls and sides, and regardless of whether the structure is permanent or not,” the department said.

This department warned all responsible persons - particularly the catering industry - “that areas enclosed on more than one side with even temporary plastic material constitutes an enclosed area.”