Law and penalities
Tobacco control in New Zealand is legislated under the provisions of the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990 and subsequent amendments. The Act governs where people cannot smoke and regulates the sale, marketing and advertising of tobacco products.
Key points of the law include:
- all indoor workplaces must be 100 percent smokefree
- there can be no smoking in indoor areas of licensed premises, such as bars, clubs, restaurants and gambling venues
- all schools and early childhood centres must be completely smokefree indoors and outdoors, 24 hours, seven days per week
- the sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products (including toy cigarettes) to people under 18 years-old is prohibited
- consumer information and warnings about the health risks of tobacco must appear on tobacco packaging. The warnings must take up no less than 30 percent of tobacco packaging, in accordance with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which New Zealand is a signatory
- vendors caught selling to under 18 year-olds can be ordered not to sell tobacco for up to three months
- individual employers risk a fine of $400 for failing to take all reasonable steps to prevent someone from smoking indoors, increasing to a maximum of $4000 for bodies corporate.
Non-smokeable oral tobaccos (Snus or chewing tobacco) are prohibited in New Zealand, though Snuff (finely ground tobacco powder that is snorted up the nose) is legal, but not commonly used.
