煙草在線據《耶路撒冷郵報》報道編譯　　以色列衛生部正在履行自己對世界衛生組織應盡的關于煙草自動售賣機的義務。

　　從2014年1月1日開始，在以色列全國范圍內，通過室內和室外的自動售賣機出售卷煙將被宣布為非法。《耶路撒冷郵報》獲悉，以色列衛生部正在努力實施這項最初在2011年8月通過，但卻因自動售賣公司稱“需要時間調整”而被推遲到2014年初執行的法律。

　　通過禁止向成年人和未成年人（按照法律，未成年人不許購買卷煙）出售卷煙，以色列衛生部履行了世界衛生組織限制自動售賣機的義務，該國簽署和批準了《煙草控制框架公約》。

　　《煙草控制框架公約》是世界衛生組織主持下磋商的第一個公約，其目標是通過提供一個煙草控制措施的框架，保護當代人和后人，防止他們的健康遭到破壞，防止他們受到煙草消費帶來的社會、環境與經濟后果的影響，防止他們接觸到煙草煙霧。

　　簽署并批準了《煙草控制框架公約》的國家，應該在國家、地區和國際層面上執行該公約的準則。

　　以色列在2005年8月批準了這項公約，成為第77個批準《煙草控制框架公約》的國家。到2012年3月，有174個國家已經批準了這項公約。由于美國的煙草游說力量十分強大，美國尚未批準《煙草控制框架公約》。

　　但以色列和以色列衛生部尚未執行《煙草控制框架公約》的所有規定，包括一項要求所有卷煙要以帶有骯臟的沾滿尼古丁漬的牙齒的圖片，或腐爛的肺部圖片的平裝出售，以阻止青年人吸煙的法規。

　　甚至現行法律在以色列都沒有得到適當地執行，包括禁止出售單支煙，使兒童無法花很少的錢就能買到卷煙的法律，而且也未能阻止在耶路撒冷的有棚頂公共汽車站和輕軌站內吸煙。

　　自動售賣機的業主們就這項法律向以色列高等法院提起上訴，但法院駁回了他們的上訴理由，并堅持認為，禁止卷煙自動售賣機的法律對公共健康和降低兒童和青少年沾染吸煙這種致命性的習慣的可能性非常重要。以色列衛生部請求地方政府委員會和市政府，以及以色列警署確保自動售賣機到2014年1月1日前消失。理論上講，這種自動化裝置可以經過改裝出售其他物品，例如出售瓶裝水、袋裝水果或蔬菜等。

Tobacco Vending Machines to be Outlawed in Israel Next Month

　　Health Ministry is carrying out its obligation regarding vending machines to the World Health Organization.

　　Starting January 1, the sale of cigarettes from indoor and outdoor vending machines will be outlawed throughout the country. The Health Ministry is working towards enforcing the law, which was originally passed in August 2011 but whose implementation was postponed until the beginning of 2014 because the vending companies said they "needed time to adjust," The Jerusalem Post has learned.

　　By prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to adults and to minors - who by law are not allowed to purchase cigarettes - the ministry thus carries out its obligation regarding vending machines to the World Health Organization, whose Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) it approved and then ratified.

　　The FCTC is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO and aims to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke by providing a framework for tobacco control measures.

　　Those who sign and and ratify the FCTC are supposed to implement its guidelines at national, regional and international levels.

　　Israel ratified it in August 2005, becoming the 77th country to do so. By March 2012, 174 countries had ratified it. Due to the strong tobacco lobby in the US, that country has not yet approved the FCTC.

　　But Israel and the ministry have not implemented all the FCTC's provisions, including a regulation that would require all cigarette packages to be sold in plain packages with graphic images of dirty, nicotine-stained teeth or decayed lungs, for example, which would deter young people from smoking.

　　Even existing laws are not enforced properly in Israel, including the ban on selling single cigarettes so that children cannot get them cheaply and the failure to prevent smoking at covered bus stops and at light rail stations in Jerusalem.

　　The vending machine owners appealed to the High Court of Justice against the law, but the court rejected their arguments and insisted that the law banning cigarette vending machines was very important for public health and for reducing the accessibility of children and teens to the deadly habit of smoking. The ministry has asked the Council of Local Authorities and the municipalities, as well as the Israel Police, to ensure that the vending machines disappear by January 1. Theoretically, the automated devices could be retrofitted to sell things like bottles of water or bags of fruit or vegetables, for example. Enditem