Iraqi Parliament to Vote on Comprehensive Anti-Tobacco Law
The Iraqi parliament is set to vote on a comprehensive draft law aimed at combating smoking and imposing additional taxes on tobacco products next week. Majid Shingali, head of the legislature’s health and environment committee, told Rudaw on Wednesday that the final drafting stage of the law is underway, with plans to share the final draft with experts for legal and linguistic review before presenting it for discussion in next week’s session.
The 21-provision draft law, which has already passed through the first and second reading, proposes a tax of 500 Iraqi dinars (around $0.38) on each imported pack of 20 cigarettes. It also seeks to prohibit smoking in public places, with violators facing a fine of 50,000 Iraqi dinars (around $38.20). Moreover, individuals who sell tobacco products, including hookah materials, electronic cigarettes, and vapes, to minors will be subject to a prison sentence of no less than six months or a fine ranging from 250,000 (around $190) to 500,000 Iraqi dinars (around $382).
Despite the potential benefits of the proposed law, some members of parliament express skepticism about its passage and enforcement. Dara Sekaniani, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s legal committee, noted that a similar anti-smoking law was initially enacted in 2012 but remained largely unenforced. Sekaniani stated, “I have never heard of anyone being punished for smoking. The government is not serious with its execution [anti-smoking law] and the citizens are not committed to implement it.”
The Kurdistan Region parliament also enacted an anti-smoking law in 2007 that banned smoking in public places and fined people breaking the law, but it too remained unenforced.
Smoking is a significant public health issue in Iraq, with the Tobacco Atlas estimating that more than 27,000 people die from smoking-related causes in the country each year. The smoking prevalence for people 15 years of age and above reached 18.6 percent in 2022, while 9.5 percent of youth aged 10 to 14 years also reported smoking.
As the Iraqi parliament prepares to vote on this comprehensive anti-tobacco law, the country has an opportunity to take a significant step towards protecting public health and reducing the devastating impact of smoking on its population.
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