New Zealand plans to phase out tobacco sales

THE GOAL OF THE ANTISMOKING LOBBY

The measures mean that today's young teens will never be able to buy cigarettes legally (AFP/Khalil MAZRAAWI)

Wed, December 8, 2021

New Zealand announced plans Thursday to effectively ban smoking by progressively lifting the age at which tobacco products can be bought, in a "world-first" bid that means today's young teens will never be able to buy cigarettes legally.

New Zealand currently outlaws tobacco sales to under-18s and Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said that from 2027, the age ban would increase by one year annually to keep the cohort smoke free.

"We want to make sure people never start smoking... as they age, they and future generations will never be able to legally purchase tobacco, because the truth is there is no safe age to start smoking," she said.

She added that the government would also legislate to restrict where tobacco is sold and only allow products with low nicotine levels into the market, to reduce the prospects of people becoming addicted.

Verrall said the measures maintained New Zealand's role as a global trailblazer in restricting tobacco, with actions such as banning cigarette sponsorship of sports in 1990 and banning smoking from bars in 2004.

"This is a historic day for the health of our people," she said.

"Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand and causes one in four cancers."

She said the health toll was particularly heavy on Maori and Pacific communities, where smoking rates are around double the 13.5 percent recorded in the rest of the population.

The government aims to reduce that to five percent by 2025 and estimates achieving the goal would save the health system NZ$5.5 (US$3.6 billion) in future expenditure.

Lobby group Action on Smoking and Health said the planned changes meant that was now a realistic prospect, hailing the government for challenging "Big Tobacco".

"This collection of complementary measures will be the envy of countries struggling to combat the death and misery caused by smoked tobacco," ASH chairman Robert Beaglehole said.

"We will lead the world in tobacco control."

British American Tobacco New Zealand said the measures were "untested, unproven and without any scientific evidence of effectiveness".

"The combined impacts are effectively a gradual prohibition, which simply pushes supply underground to the black market," it said in a statement.

ns/arb/jah

New Zealand plans lifetime ban on cigarette sales for future generations: How will it work?

Plan is to make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone aged 14 and under from 2027. The ban will remain in place for the rest of the person’s life

09 December 2021 - 11:12BY BYRON KAYE

Currently, 11.6% of all New Zealanders aged over 15 smoke, according to government figures, with four in five smokers having started before the age of 18. Stock image.
Image: 123RF/GIN SANDERS

New Zealand on Thursday said it wants to ban young people from buying cigarettes for life, one of the toughest approaches in the world to curbing smoking deaths.

New Zealand is already one of 17 countries where plain cigarette packaging is compulsory. It also bans sales to anyone under 18, but it says those measures are not enough to reach its goal of a national adult smoking rate of less than 5% by 2025.

“We want to make sure young people never start smoking, so we will make it an offence to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new cohorts of youth,” New Zealand associate minister of health Ayesha Verrall said in a statement.

Currently, 11.6% of all New Zealanders aged over 15 smoke, according to government figures, with four in five smokers having started before the age of 18.

A LIFETIME BAN

New Zealand plans to make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone aged 14 and under from 2027. The ban will remain in place for the rest of the person’s life. That means a person aged 60 in 2073 will be banned from buying cigarettes, while a person aged 61 would be allowed to do so.

WHY 14 AND UNDER?

New Zealand health authorities say smokers typically take up the habit during youth, with four in five New Zealanders who smoke beginning by age 18 and 96% by age 25. By stopping a generation from taking up smoking, they hope to avoid about 5,000 preventable deaths a year.

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NEWS

2 weeks ago

WHAT OTHER CHANGES ARE PLANNED?

Under the proposed legislation, which the government plans to bring into law by the end of next year, it will first limit the number of stores that can sell cigarettes from 2024. It will then lower the level of nicotine — the most addictive ingredient — in cigarettes from 2025, to make them easier to quit. Finally, it will bring in the “smoke-free” generation from 2027.

HOW WILL THE RULES BE ENFORCED?

The New Zealand authorities have not said how they plan to police the ban, nor which retailers would be barred from selling tobacco products. More detail is expected to be provided when legislation is brought before parliament next year.

WILL NEW ZEALAND BE THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST ANTI-TOBACCO JURISDICTION?

Not quite. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan banned cigarette sales outright in 2010 (though it lifted the ban temporarily in 2020 to stop black market imports from India during a Covid-19 border closure, Al-Jazeera reported).

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The New Zealand government says it wants to introduce the changes in phases to lessen the economic shock on retailers and give people with mental health issues — a group with far higher smoking rates — time to manage the change.

The restrictions are expected to be rolled out from 2024, beginning with a sharp reduction in the number of authorised sellers, followed by reduced nicotine requirements in 2025 and the creation of the “smoke-free” generation from 2027.

Reuters