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December 16, 2022

Anna Murray 

New Zealand banned the sale of smoking tobacco products to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009. On December 13, New Zealand's Parliament enacted a historic anti-smoking bill. Retailers who sell tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 will face fines of up to NZ$150,000 (US$96,000) under the new regulation. The ban will take effect on January 1, 2027, when individuals born in 2009 reach the age of 18.

The ban is aimed at preventing future generations from taking up smoking and is part of a wider government push to make the country smoke free by 2025. The new law will also slash the number of retailers licensed to sell tobacco, from 6,000 to 600 by the end of 2023. In addition, the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill will also lower the quantity of nicotine permitted in tobacco products, with the goal of making them less addictive.

Tobacco product sales to minors are already prohibited in New Zealand. However, the latest amendments to the law effectively set a shifting age limit, thereby prohibiting tobacco sales to the country's youngest and future generations. The government has enacted an ambitious plan to make New Zealand smoke-free, which might pave the way for similar policies elsewhere in the world.