Azerbaijan becoming non-smoking country

Azerbaijan's Parliament adopted the Law 'On Restriction of the Use of Tobacco Products'.

"If in the previous version of the draft law employers were required to allocate special places for smoking, then in the final reading of this issue, regardless of the organizational and legal form, was given to employers’ discretion. That is, they will decide whether to create such conditions or not. In addition, municipalities are given new powers to take action against the use of tobacco products. They will take steps to restrict the use of tobacco products," the chairman of the Committee on Labor and Social Policy Hadi Rajabli said at the meeting.

In accordance with the law, smoking is forbidden throughout the territory of various educational institutions, in hotels, health care facilities, rehabilitation centers, health resorts, social facilities, theaters and cinemas, at exhibitions, reading rooms, libraries, museums and other cultural institutions, in underground and overground crossings, buses (including intercity and international), taxis, metro, air, railway, sea and river transport, bus stops, railway stations, river and sea ports, airports, elevators, common areas of multi-apartment buildings, in buildings and enterprises where flammable substances are stored, on playgrounds, beaches, workplaces of organizations, enterprises, offices, regardless of organizational and legal form and ownership.