Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 25 October 2022, in a mixed offline and online mode, in the conference hall of the Yuksalish Nationwide Movement, a press briefing "Tobacco and the law" was held for media representatives.

The event was organized in order to involve the general public in improving legislation in the field of restricting the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products and strengthening information support for the new Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On restricting the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products”.

The event was held with the support of the Public Fund for Support of Non-Governmental Organizations and Other Civil Society Institutions under the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, within the framework of the project “Tobacco-Free Future!” Public Foundation "Ibn Sino", together with the Center for the Retraining of Journalists of Uzbekistan, the National Movement "Yuksalish", the Center for Supporting a Healthy Lifestyle and Physical Activity of the Population of the Ministry of Health.

According to the WHO, tobacco kills more than 8 million people worldwide every year. More than 7 million of these deaths are from direct tobacco use and about 1.2 million are due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

The harmful use of alcohol causes 3.3 million deaths worldwide each year, accounting for 5.3% of all deaths (7.7% for men, 2.6% for women) and 5.1% of the burden of disease and injury. About 13.5% of all premature deaths among people aged 20-39 years are associated with alcohol consumption.

At the event, media representatives were informed about the situation with the promotion of the new Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Restricting the Distribution and Consumption of Alcohol and Tobacco Products”. In particular, on 13 June 2022, at the Plenary meeting of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Law adopted by the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on 21 December 2021 was considered and rejected due to the presence of conflicting norms. As a result, the Law was submitted for reconsideration to the Conciliation Commission of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, which is currently finalizing it based on the proposals of the Senate.

Also at the event, information was given on filling gaps in the legislation to restrict the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products, as well as on strengthening some restrictions in the legislation. Especially,

1. Tobacco products are defined separately, and such product group includes:

products containing tobacco leaf and (or) other parts of a tobacco plant as raw materials, including smoking products (cigarettes, heated tobacco products, pipe tobacco) and non-smoking products (nasvay, tobacco snus, snuff);

containing nicotine or its derivatives, including smoking products (electronic cigarettes, nicotine liquids for electronic nicotine delivery systems) and non-smoking products (nicotine snus);

products are introduced that do not contain tobacco and nicotine and are intended for use with devices for consuming tobacco and nicotine (hookah mixture, nicotine-free liquid for electronic nicotine delivery systems, electronic cigarettes with nicotine-free liquid)

Equating products such as nasvay, new tobacco and nicotine products with tobacco products will ensure their regulation at the legislative level and all restrictions imposed on tobacco products will apply to these products.

The tasks of organizations that carry out and participate in measures to limit the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products are defined (Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Tax Committee, Department for Combating Economic Crimes of the General Prosecutor’s Office, State Customs Committee, Agencies for Regulation of the Alcohol and Tobacco Market and Development of Winemaking , Agency for the Protection of Consumer Rights, Agency for Technical Regulation of the Republic of Uzbekistan).

3. New bans are introduced on the sale of alcohol and tobacco products and devices for the consumption of tobacco and nicotine. Especially:

persons under the age of twenty-one (note: increased from twenty to twenty-one years),

persons under twenty-one years of age;

without the direct participation of the seller, including with the help of vending machines, other electronic or mechanical devices;

it is planned to ban the sale in the form of e-commerce (with the exception of sparkling and natural wines).

It is agreed that the seller requires the buyer, who appears to be under the age of twenty-one, to present a document proving his identity and age, and in the absence of a document, he will refuse to sell.

4. Distribution and public demonstration of tobacco products, devices for the consumption of tobacco and nicotine in retail trade is prohibited.

5. It is determined that wholesale and retail trade in tobacco products and devices for the consumption of tobacco and nicotine can be carried out by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

6. The area allotted for placement of medical warnings on the package (pack) of tobacco products is envisaged to be increased from 40 to 65 percent. The same requirement applies to consumer devices.

7. It is planned to ban the import and sale to the Republic of Uzbekistan of all non-smoking tobacco products, including non-smoking products containing nicotine, and their sale on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, except for nasvay.

8. A clear list of public places where the use of alcohol and tobacco products is prohibited is defined, as well as minimum requirements for special places intended for smoking. The duties of persons responsible for preventing smoking in such places (officials of organizations, persons owning buildings, structures, public transport) are also determined.

The participants were provided with information from the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Tashkent: during the events held in schools and public places, the number of cases of detection of tobacco products among schoolchildren increases every year: 110 cases in 2019, 242 in 2020, 336 in 2021 ., 220 in the first half of 2022, i.e. in 2020 the number of cases increased by 2.2 times compared to the previous year, and in 2021 by 1.4 times.

The majority of tobacco products found in minors were: nicotine snus (59 percent), tobacco snus (18.8 percent), e-cigarettes (8.5 percent), conventional cigarettes (7.7 percent), tobacco (4.4 percent ) and a tobacco heating system (1.5 percent).

Also, nicotine snus was detected among minors in 2019 - 74 cases, in 2020 - 112, in 2021 - 184. and in the first half of 2022 - 166 cases, which is 50-60% more annually compared to the previous year.

In this regard, the participants of the event emphasized that the faster adoption of the Law by the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis will reduce the impact of tobacco industry marketing on the younger generation, will make a significant contribution to reducing the level of smoking among young people and protecting the nation’s gene pool.