Smoking is prohibited in many restaurants
In the same year, the then federal government also urged the federal states to set up rules for smoking in pubs. From January 1, 2008, the supposedly comfortable smoking in pubs and other restaurants came to an end. But the laws on the protection of non-smokers are interpreted with varying degrees of severity. In Bavaria, Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia there is now an absolute smoking ban in all pubs and restaurants. In Lower Saxony, Berlin, Hamburg and Saxony, smoking is still allowed in pubs that are smaller than 75 square meters and that do not serve food. Larger restaurants can set up special smoking rooms. The rule that smoking is allowed in separate areas applies in Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia.
Tobacco advertising is largely banned
Since July 31, 2005, tobacco advertising in print media, radio and the Internet has been banned in EU countries. The same applies to sponsorship of cross-border cultural and sporting events. The same rules apply to company websites as the Federal Court of Justice ruled in October 2017. Tobacco companies are therefore no longer allowed to advertise with people who smoke on their websites.
For a long time, Germany, together with Bulgaria, brought up the rear in Europe when it came to tobacco advertising bans. Since January 2021, however, stricter rules for cigarette advertising have also applied in Germany: outdoor advertising is only permitted for specialist retailers and tobacco advertising is only possible to a limited extent in cinemas. There is a general ban on tobacco advertising for films in which children and young people may be present.
The bans on outdoor advertising on billboards or bus stops have been in effect since January 2022. They currently apply to conventional tobacco products, but should also come into force from 2023 for so-called tobacco heaters and from 2024 for electronic cigarettes and refill containers.
Packaging with shock photos
Black smoker’s lungs, rotten teeth or a woman coughing up blood into a handkerchief – so-called shock photos have been printed on cigarette and rolling tobacco packaging since the end of May 2016. Since then, the photos and the associated warnings such as “Smoking causes 9 out of 10 lung cancers” have had to cover two-thirds of the front and back of cigarette and rolling tobacco packaging. Up to this point, the warnings on tobacco packaging were much smaller and more subtle. The background to this law: Studies have shown that drastic warnings can deter non-smokers from starting to smoke. More than 105 countries worldwide use pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs. Incidentally, Canada was the first country to start doing so in 2001.
Right to a smoke-free workplace
In principle, every employee has the right to a smoke-free workplace. The workplace ordinance therefore requires a general smoking ban or at least one that applies in individual areas of the company. After all, the employer has a duty of care and protection towards the employees. He must do everything reasonable to protect non-smokers if employees are particularly vulnerable to health. This includes, for example, pregnant colleagues, to whom the Maternity Protection Act applies. A smoking office near the hallway would also be unacceptable for them – even with the door closed. Further information on the smoke-free workplace can be found on test.de in the report Smoking at the workplace and in the brochure Information for smoking and non-smoking employees.
Tobacco tax will be gradually increased
High tobacco prices are a political tool to make smoking unattractive. They are intended to discourage young people in particular from starting to smoke. In 2016, the price for a pack of 20 cigarettes was 6 euros, today 20 cigarettes cost around 7.30 euros.
In January 2022, there was a tobacco tax increase in Germany for the first time in seven years. The tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes has been increased by around 10 cents. A further 10 cents will be added in 2023, and in 2025 and 2026 another 15 cents per pack will be added. In fact, taxes account for almost two-thirds of the price of a pack. The VAT rate for a pack of cigarettes is around 16 percent. At around 14.5 billion euros, the tobacco tax remains one of the most important federal taxes.
On January 1, 2022, the Tobacco Tax Modernization Act also came into force. Hookah tobacco and heated tobacco – both of which have hitherto been taxed at a lower rate, namely like pipe tobacco – will also be taxed more heavily. The tax burden for e-cigarettes will also be increased significantly from July 2022 so that it corresponds to the taxation of tobacco cigarettes.