14 August 2019 - From today, August 14th, smoking in enclosed public venues will be prohibited in Montenegro with the new Law on Restriction of the Use of Tobacco Products entering into force. The Law strictly prohibits the use of tobacco products indoors, except for casinos. Anyone who violates the provisions of this Law will be fined up to €20.000, said the Health Minister of Montenegro, Kenan Hrapović in an official statement published by the Government of Montenegro.
As TMN previously reported, the new law prohibits smoking in any room or area where food and drinks are served and consumed.
In addition, the law bans the use of tobacco products in any part of enclosed space where state or local authorities and services perform their activities, in areas where educational, healthcare or cultural activities are performed, in the areas of social protection, sport and recreation, trade, production or storage of food, recording or public broadcasting, as well as in the areas where meetings and public gatherings are held. It is possible to designate a specific part of the space that the owner or user designates solely for this purpose. The law clearly stipulates the conditions of insulation, surface, position and equipment of that part of the space: the room must be insulated in such a way that no tobacco smoke can flow into the rest of the space, and the surface must not be less than 10 square meters, must not occupy more than 20 per cent of the workspace or public space and should not be intended for passage to other spaces.
The new law also prohibits the sale of tobacco products that are not labelled with printed warnings covering 65% of the front and rear end of a pack.
Violation of the Law on Restriction of the Use of Tobacco Products will lead to strict penalties going up to 20.000 EUR.
Ministry of Health will be in charge of monitoring the implementation of the law.
