On Wednesday, restrictions will be made even more difficult for cigarette marketing • Health Ministry's "smoking cessation venture": "Government ministries are enforcing responsibility"

• Explosion cigarette cabinet according to the new regulations

A number of new smoking bans will take effect this week (Jan. 8.1), but anti-smoking activists say the lack of enforcement by the Health Ministry is a concern that the bans will not be enforced or implemented.

The restrictions that come into force this week are striking and significant and are expected to make smoking less attractive to youth. Starting this week, a display will be banned in cigarette pack shops and will be sold out of a closed cabinet with no product logo. The cigarette packs themselves will be uniform, with no logo and green-brown color. In addition, anti-smoking warnings will be increased to cover 65% of the packaging area and for the first time e-cigarettes and smoking products will also be required to publish the warning of the smoking hazards on the pack.

Toward this stage, the smoking cessation initiative appealed to Health Minister Litzman, claiming that the law did not regulate who was responsible for enforcing and supervising its implementation. According to the venture, in the current situation, the public has no information on how the laws can be enforced, where there can be complaints about sales points that display cigarettes in violation of the law, no mechanism that collects public complaints and the Ministry of Health does not publish a campaign to raise public awareness of and enforce the law.

"Given the lack of regulatory, enforcement and public information mechanisms, it is not surprising that the reality in the past year - since the first act of the law came into effect - is indicative of many violations of its provisions," write the venture.

"Every day that goes by without the Ministry of Health taking care to fill the void in the areas of supervision, enforcement and publicity leads to the continued abandonment of the public - especially of young people and youth - at the mercy of smoking companies and their sophisticated marketing practices. A toothless law is a dead letter, and despite its intentions The good is likely to fail. "

A study of teenagers in England before and after the ban on smoking products for sale showed a decline in both the youth exposure to smoking products (from 81 percent exposure in 2011 to 28 percent exposure in 2016), along with a 36 percent drop in the feasibility index. Youth experience smoking.

Shira Kislev, CEO of the smoking cessation venture: "The idea behind the law is that teens simply won't see cigarettes in the public domain. The packaging will not attract them, and studies have shown that this is how smoking is prevented. The law does not determine who is responsible for enforcement. Only recently have we witnessed the Ministry of Internal Security and the Ministry of Health impose the responsibility of another law enforcement agency that prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors. Once the stores understand that no one is going to enforce the law - what are the odds that they will obey it? It bothers us. Already we are seeing varied attempts to get around the law. The Ministry of Health’s responsibility is to oversee it. ”

The Ministry of Health responded: "A year ago, the Knesset approved a comprehensive amendment to the Prohibition on Advertising and Restricting the Marketing of Tobacco and Smoking Products Promoted by the Ministry of Health. An amendment to the Act was given a period of preparation and dates were set for various sections. January 8, a week, The Ministry of Health is publishing, on the Ministry's website, questions and answers regarding the implementation of the law and its entry into force, as well as examples of design required for the various smoking products for the general public and companies. "

"Smoking products in the new uniform design are already well-visible at the selling points and shelves for weeks. In addition, the Ministry of Health is expected to issue a public announcement and a promotional video soon to use counter-print ads to raise awareness of amendments coming into effect. The Ministry of Health's Enforcement and Supervision Department is working to , And complaints of law violations have been addressed directly to relevant entities, such as advertisers or business owners. The Ministry of Health urges the general public to report after the amendment comes into effect for violations of the law, such as displaying smoking products at points of sale in violation of the law, and passing on a description of the violation, Offense and even photographed record of the offense to the Office of Enforcement and Supervision at: prevent@moh.gov.il ".