Brazil bans indoor smoking and tobacco ads

Two years and a half after the Antismoke Law was published in Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff signed a decree which regulates the norm and introduces a ban on smoking in indoor public areas. Dedicated smoking rooms were also banned. The new regulation was signed Saturday (May 31), the World No Tobacco Day, and further outlaws all smoking advertisement in the country and expands the size given to health warnings on cigarette packs.

The new rules come into effect in December and aim to protect non-smokers and discourage the consumptio of tobacco even further. The use of cigars, pipes and other smoking implements has also been forbidden, in both totally and partially enclosed public spaces.

The regulation also limits the display of tobacco products in establishments, in which posters will have to be put up to warn smokers of the risks associated with tobacco consumption. By law, the establishment – and not the smoker – will be in charge of the enforcement of the norms. If it fails to stop violators, the establishment should resort to calling the police. If the norm is not observed, businesses may be given an official warning, fined, or even shut down. Fines range from $883 to $662,544.15 according to the violation committed.

Today, according to the Ministry of Health, 11.3 percent of Brazilian adults living in the capital cities are smokers. In 2006, this rate stood at 15.7 percent. The number of adults who smoke at least 20 cigarettes per day has also dropped over the last eight years – from 4.6 percent to 3.4. With the regulation, the government hopes to reduce the amount of smoking adults to less than 10 percent by 2021.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira