Future generations of New Zealanders will be banned from buying tobacco as part of a package of new anti-smoking laws passed by Parliament that are among the toughest in the world.
Among the new laws is a ban on the sale of tobacco to anyone born on 1 January 2009, punishable by fines of up to NZ$150,000 (€90,876).
The ban will remain for a person’s full life, reports RTE.
The legislation will also reduce the amount of nicotine permitted in smoking tobacco products and cut the number of retailers who can sell tobacco by 90%.
“This legislation accelerates progress towards a smokefree future. Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5 billion better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations.” Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said in a statement, reports RTE.
Dealers licensed to sell tobacco will be reduced from 6,000 to 600 by the end of 2023.
New Zealand already has one of the lowest smoking rates among 38 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries and is tightening anti-smoking laws to make the country smoke-free by 2025.
Only Bhutan, which banned the sale of cigarettes in 2010, will have stricter anti-smoking laws.
The number of adult New Zealanders who smoke has fallen by half to 8% over the past decade, with 56,000 quitting in the last year.
OECD data shows that 25% of French adults smoked in 2021.
A recent Healthy Ireland survey found that the number of smokers in Ireland has fallen from 23% in 2015 to 18% this year.
DR Verrall said the legislation would help close the life expectancy gap between Maori and non-Maori citizens, which can be as much as 25 percent for women.
ACT New Zealand, which holds 10 out of 120 seats in Parliament, condemned the law, saying it would kill small businesses and force people onto the black market.
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