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 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.
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.
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.
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 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 (although 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?
A Maori taskforce involving tobacco control and public health
experts will consult on the plan, which the New Zealand government
wants to make law by the end of 2022. The 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.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; editing by Jane Wardell)
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