ROMANIA:New Romanian law bans tobacco, spirits advertising

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

New Romanian law bans tobacco, spirits advertising
by Reuters (1583) 
Date: Thursday, 2/11/99

BUCHAREST, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The Romanian cabinet approved a bill on
Thursday limiting tobacco and alcohol advertising in electronic and print
media and aligning regulations with European Union standards. 

Acknowledging an advertising boom in the post-communist era, the law would
ban ads with a sexual, religious or political bias, a government statement
said. 

``Advertising should be decent, fair,...should not incite violence and
should encourage environment-friendly behaviour,'' said the statement,
issued after a cabinet meeting. 

Tobacco and alcohol advertising will be banned on radio and television and
on the covers of magazines and newpapers. 

``Advertising for spirits and tobacco is also banned if it is aimed at
under-age groups, or if it suggests that tobacco and liquor have
therapeutic virtues or can solve personal problems,'' the statement said. 

Outdoor advertising for tobacco, ever-present in both cities and the
countryside, was not apparently included in the ban. Nor was advertising
on the inside pages of publications. 

Under the draft law, tobacco advertisements must include health warnings
in Romanian -- the first such legal protection for Romanians since the
fall of communism in 1989. 

Alcohol and tobacco ads are also banned in or around schools and
hospitals. Violators face heavy fines. 

There are an estimated six million smokers among Romania's 22 million
inhabitants, with annual consumption at 21 billion cigarettes -- making
them eastern Europe's heaviest smokers after the Poles. 

Official data show that smoking and drinking are on the increase among
teenagers. 

The bill, drafted with the help of EU experts, now has to be submitted to
parliament for approval.
------------------------------------------------------ 2:07 AM on 2/12/99