Putin signed the law on the regulation of the tobacco market by analogy with alcohol

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on state regulation of the production and circulation of tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Signed document published on the official portal of legal information.

The law establishes the legal basis for the production and circulation of tobacco products in Russia, as well as specialized state control in this area. Production, storage and supply of tobacco and nicotine-containing products and raw materials for their production, import and export of such products are classified as goods that require a license. It will be required from March 1, 2024.

State Duma deputies cited TNS Kantar data in an explanatory note, according to which the share of illegal tobacco products in Russia in the period from 2016 to 2018. increased from 1.5% to 8%, and in the first quarter of 2019 it amounted to 10.3%.

The draft law itself was adopted by the lower house on June 1 – exactly 10 years before that, an anti-tobacco law came into force in Russia, which provides for a ban on smoking in public places, advertising of tobacco products and restricting its retail sale.

All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) in its May poll notedthat by 2023 the number of smokers over the past decade has decreased by only 5%. At the same time, there was an increase among those who quit using nicotine-containing products (by 19%), and half (50%) of those surveyed said they had never smoked.