The next 12 months will be crucial to the campaign for tobacco control in Russia, a country with one of the highest rates of tobacco use in the world. In August, the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development (MoHSD) took an important step forward when it released draft legislation that addresses all of the World Health Organization – Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) requirements, including provisions on tax increases, advertising bans, smokefree places, warning labels, cessation services and public education activities.
Specifically, the MoHSD's draft law seeks to:
- Introduce smoking bans in all enclosed public spaces, including public transportation, airports, cafes, restaurants and hotels by 2014–2015
- Prohibit tobacco advertising and promotion, including brand stretching, i.e. marketing cigarette brands by placing identical logos, typefaces and colours on merchandise such as t-shirts
- Increase the price for cigarettes from 17 rubles (US $0.6) per pack to at least 61 rubles (US $2) and introduce a minimum price. (The current federal tobacco control legislation allows for a maximum price on cigarettes, which gives the tobacco industry power to control the pricing to their advantage.)
- Empower regional governments and transfer control of tobacco control policies from the federal to the regional governments.
The tobacco industry is particularly worried about the issues of increasing prices and empowering regional governments. They have already voiced objections to the draft legislation, stating that stringent laws will encourage illicit activities such as smuggling.
Supporters hope that the reading of the bill in the Duma will be completed before the elections on 4 December. The months following will be a major test as to whether the policies can indeed move to successful implementation.
Although Russia adopted the FCTC in 2008, it still has nearly 43 million tobacco consumers and about 400,000 Russians die annually due to tobacco-related diseases. The Union has been supporting work on tobacco control policies there since 2008.
"On Protection of Health of Citizens against Harmful Effects of Tobacco Consumption", the Ministry of Health's draft legislation may be found here: http://beztabaka2011.minzdravsoc.ru/