Armenian anti-trust agency says antismoking bill does disagree with economic competition
Armenia's State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) disagreed with lawyer Andranik Vahanyan, who argues that a draft law designed to reduce and prevent damage to health from the use of tobacco products, restricts competition, blocks the access of new companies to the market, and also creates non-competitive conditions for current business entities.
The lawyer referred, in particular, to the provisions of the bill, which call for restrictions on advertising of tobacco products, their sale, as well as block discounts.
In comments to a today's public debate on the issue, the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) said in a press release that the bill has provisions that are able to restrict economic competition, but, since they proceed from the public interest in protecting health, they cannot be considered a violation of the economic competition law.
The anti-trust agency said also that the current law's restrictions on the sale and consumption of tobacco products did not result in a significant drop in smoking-related diseases and mortality rate, which could mean the inefficiency of the government policy due to legislation gaps.
The regulator referred to international experience, citing, particularly, the decisions of German and UK courts, which prioritize public interests and health.
At the beginning of this year, the Armenian Ministry of Health unveiled an anti-smoking bill, which provides for a ban on smoking in closed venues and public places, including restaurants, cafes, streets, parks, and bus stops.
The bill calls for toughening anti-smoking measures in order to prevent and stop the use of various types of tobacco products and their substitutes, to protect the population from negative consequences from the effects of second-hand smoke.
However, due to public outrage caused by extremely high fines, set by the bill, the final discussion and adoption of the bill had been postponed, and the bill was sent for revision.
On May 31, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan announced that the bill was almost ready to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration. -0-