British American Tobacco (Czech Republic) - Anti-smoking regulation

On 31 May 2017, Act No. 65/2017 Coll., on protection of health against harmful effects of addictive substances, known to the general public as the “anti-smoking regulation”, regulating, in particular, the following areas, entered into effect in the Czech Republic:

1. Restricting sale of tobacco and related products
2. Smoking ban and ban on use of electronic cigarettes in certain places

• Ban on sale of tobacco products, smoking articles, herbal products for smoking and electronic cigarettes:

Ban on sale outside these places: (at these places, sale is allowed unless excluded in the right column)	Complete ban on sale (regardless of the left column):
Shops specialising in selling this type of merchandise	In healthcare facilities and premises associated with their operation
Grocery stores	At schools and school facilities
Shops in which portfolio of newspapers and other periodicals prevails	In facilities providing for social protection of children
Catering services facility	In establishments where trade the object of which is providing care to children under 3 years of age is carried out
Accommodation facilities	In facilities offering care for children in a children group or in facilities where extracurricular activities and education are carried out and these facilities are not registered in the register of schools and school facilities
Refreshments stand	At events targeted mainly at individuals younger than 18 years
Solid-structure stands with prevailing portfolio newspapers and other periodicals	In transport means designed for public passenger transport with the exception of air transport means
Stands specialising in sale of newspapers and other periodicals located within a structure designed for trade and air transport means	In shops with prevailing portfolio of merchandise targeted at individuals younger than 18 years of age
Remote communications means (i.e. the internet) if the products are not sold to individuals younger than 18 years of age using an age verification system (for further conditions, see the Act)	Through an automatic vending machine unless sale of this merchandise to an individual younger than 18 years of age can be prevented (for that purpose, the merchant selling through the vending machine must ensure age verification of the buyer by a person appointed for that purpose)

 

• Ban on smoking and use of electronic cigarettes:

No smoking:	WHERE	No use of electronic cigarettes:
YES	At indoor premises with free access for the general public with the exception of structurally separated premises reserved for smoking	YES
YES	In transit areas of international airports with the exception of structurally separated premises reserved for smoking	YES
YES	At platforms, under platform roofs and waiting rooms of public transport	YES
YES	In public transport vehicles	YES
YES	In healthcare facilities and in premises associated with their operation with the exception of structurally separated premises reserved for smoking in a closed psychiatric ward or in another facility for addiction treatment	YES
YES	At schools and school facilities	YES
YES	In facilities providing for social protection of children, in establishments where trade the object of which is providing care to children under 3 years of age is carried out, in facilities offering care for children in a children group or in facilities where extracurricular activities and education are carried out and these facilities are not registered in the register of schools and school facilities	YES
YES	At playgrounds and sports grounds designed primarily for individuals younger than 18 years of age	YES
YES	In indoor areas of all types of sports grounds	YES
YES	In indoor entertainment premises, e.g. cinema, theatre, exhibition and concert halls and sports halls, in other indoor premises for the duration of the cultural and dance performance	YES
YES	In indoor premises of catering services facilities, save for water pipes	NO (but the owner can prohibit)
YES	In the zoological garden area, with the exception of outdoor areas reserved by the operator of the zoological garden for smoking	NO (but the owner can prohibit)
+ By generally binding orders, municipalities are entitled to ban smoking and use of electronic cigarettes at public spaces adjoining schools, school facilities or other premises reserved for activities of individuals younger than 18 years of age.

EXEMPTION FROM THE SMOKING BAN

An exemption to the overall smoking ban has been allowed for publicly accessible indoor premises (but please note that catering services facilities or entertainment indoor premises do not fall under such premises) and international airports by law - the Act allows the possibility to set up premises reserved for smoking, the "smoking rooms", that must be separated by structural means.