The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: Countries in transition, pressed by urgent need for foreign investments, are generally facing with the entry of transnational tobacco companies which have the influence on national policies. The example of Serbia and Montenegro has a purpose to draw attention of tobacco control workers, particularly from countries in development, to tactics that tobacco industry is using to weaken, delay or annul enforcement of legislation and to show in which extent those actions have influenced introduction of new legislation in Serbia and Montenegro.

Methods: Descriptive and semi-quantitative analysis of legislative documents developed and enacted from 2003 to 2005.

Results: Analysis showed that tobacco industry's focus is in five major areas: tax policy, advertising, product control, customer information and availability to young people, which aims to prevent decrease in prevalence among all population groups. Excise Law introduced new regime of tobacco taxation, but ad valorem and specific values are significantly lower than in European Union, cigarette prices are still below the rate of inflation. Although employment rate in tobacco industry in Serbia and Montenegro is relatively low, the perception of non-health sectors of the government is that it contributes significantly to the national budget. There is an evidence of partnership between tobacco industry and non-health governmental sector which resulted in weak implementation of the ban on selling tobacco to minors. Analysis showed that tobacco industry succeeded to postpone enforcement of new legislation but it could not stop it from passing. Efforts to implement new tobacco control measures should be sustained and enhanced.