From the 1st of October 2015 it is illegal to smoke in a car (or other vehicle) with anyone under 18. The law aims to protect children and young people from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

The law applies to every driver in England and Wales, including those aged 17 and those with a provisional driving licence.

The law does not apply to using e-cigarettes (vaping). 

For more details please go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/smoking-in-vehicles

A workshop was held on 2-3 June 2015 for government officials to promote implementation of Article 5.3 of the Convention. The workshop was one of the activities that followed the joint needs assessment exercise, undertaken jointly by the Government of Jamaica and the Convention Secretariat and its partners in August 2014.

The workshop was successful and made a tremendous impact. The main consultation session was held on the 2nd of June and featured participation of a wide range of stakeholders from various arms of the Government.

As part of efforts to reduce the consumption of tobacco products and its related health hazards, the Parliament of Ghana has approved an increase in tobacco taxes through the passage of the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2015 into Law.

The Bill seeks to amend the first schedule of the Excise Duty Act, 2014 (Act 878) and proposes an increase the excise duty on cigarettes and cigars from 150 per cent of the ex-factory price to 170 per cent.

The Austrian Parliament has imposed a complete smoking ban in all Austrian restaurants and other food providers and will be enforced beginning on 1 May 2018. Besides that, incentives of a fiscal premium of 30 percent for effected conversion investments are provided if companies switch prior to 1 July 2016. As of May 2016, the smoking ban also includes water pipes, e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco products.

On 28 July 2015, the Parliament of Uganda passed its new Tobacco Control Law after long negotiations and engagements with relevant stakeholders. The law requires 100% smoke-free public places, including a ban of smoking within a distance of 50 meters of any public place. The ban covers shisha, electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

In addition, no sales of tobacco products are permitted within 50 meters of educational and health institutions, cinemas, police stations, prisons or other places where children are cared for.

The Convention Secretariat supported two Iranian officials to undertake a study visit in Singapore at the Cigarette Testing Laboratory of the Health Sciences Authority on 6 to 9 July 2015.

The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, the Norwegian Cancer Society, and the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer jointly conducted a workshop on legal issues relating to the implementation of plain (or standardized) tobacco packaging in Europe. The workshop included government officials, WHO FCTC Convention Secretariat and WHO representatives, and NGO and academic experts from Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and the UK.

The GATS Atlas presents tobacco statistics from Global Adult Tobacco Surveys implemented in 22 countries. It is structured following the articles of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the MPOWER framework, covering topics ranging from monitoring and policies, help to quit and protection from second hand smoke to marketing bans, taxation and pricing as well as tracking and tracing of tobacco products.

The Republic of Palau is establishing a new national coordinating mechanism, as required under Article 5.2(a) of the WHO FCTC, with its madate covering, beyong tobacco control, all non-communicable diseases. In an executive order, President Thommy E. Remengesau Jr. announced the creation of a coordinating Committee which shall include representatives from different ministries and agencies and is to co-operate closely with NGOs, the private sector and civil society.