Laws

Administrative Offenses Code (excerpts) (as amended)

01 Jun, 1986

COMMENTS: The Administrative Offenses Code of the Republic of Armenia contains, among other things, penalties for violations of smoke free, advertising, packaging and labeling, and sales restrictions provisions.

Further amendments relevant to tobacco control were made in February 2020 and are available below.

Law on Advertising (as amended through December 17, 2014)

04 Jun, 1996

COMMENTS: The Law on Advertising regulates advertising generally, and contains specific restrictions related to tobacco advertising on TV and radio, print media, and outdoor media. The English translation contains relevant excerpts only.

Further amendments relevant to tobacco control were made in February 2020 and are available below. 

Law on Fixed Payments for Tobacco Products (as amended)

24 Mar, 2000

Note: This law has not been reviewed by our legal staff and was not relied upon for purposes of our analysis. We are providing it here for informational purposes only.

GOST No. 3935-2000 on General Specifications Adopted by CIS Member States

18 Oct, 2000

COMMENTS: GOST 3935-2000 is an interstate standard adopted by all CIS member states. It contains specifications for cigarettes and regulates the packaging and labeling of cigarettes.

Law on Restrictions on the Sale, Consumption, and Use of Tobacco (as amended)

02 Mar, 2005

COMMENTS: The Law on Restrictions on the Sale, Consumption and Use of Tobacco regulated the sale of tobacco products, packaging and labeling of tobacco products, and smoking in public places. The law also addressed some advertising and promotion practices.

The law was replaced by the Law on Reduction and Prevention of the Damage Caused by the Use of Tobacco Products and Substitutions for Them (2020).

Resolution No. 540-N on Approving the Technical Regulation on Tobacco (excerpts)

18 May, 2005

COMMENTS: Resolution No. 540-N of April 28, 2005 On Approving the Technical Regulation on Tobacco implements GOST 3935-2000 and regulated, among other things, cigarette health warning messages and misleading tobacco product packaging and labeling.

Resolution No. 540-N was replaced by Decision No. 219 of April 28, 2015.

Ministry of Health Order No. 916-N on Approving the Warning Texts About Adverse Effects of Tobacco on Human Health

05 Dec, 2005

COMMENTS: Ministry of Health Order No. 916-N on Approving the Warning Texts About Adverse Effects of Tobacco on Human Health was issued under the Law on Restrictions on the Sale, Consumption and Use of Tobacco and provides the four additional health warning messages for cigarettes packaging and labeling.

Decision No. 843-N for the License Requirements to Sale Alcohol and Cigarettes

18 Aug, 2007

COMMENTS: Decision No. 843-N requires persons and legal entities to obtain a license for the retail sale of alcohol and tobacco products in stores and catering facilities.

Eurasian Economic Commission Technical Regulations for Tobacco Products

COMMENTS: "Technical Regulations for Tobacco Products" 12 November 2014, No. 107 were issued by the European Economic Commission Council and regulate, among other things, tobacco product packaging and labeling. The Technical Regulations do not need to be adopted through implementing legislation, however the final date for compliance with most of the provisions is November 15, 2017.

Eurasian Economic Commission Council Decision No. 53 on Transitional Provisions of the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union “Technical Regulations for Tobacco Products” (TR TS 035/2014)

COMMENTS: Decision No. 53 provides transitional provisions for the implementation of the "Technical Regulations for Tobacco Products" of 12 November 2014, No. 107. The final date for implementation of most of the regulations is November 15, 2017. However, pursuant to Eurasian Economic Commission Council Decision No. 209 of December 18, 2018, the effective date of the requirements in Armenia has been delayed to January 1, 2024.

Decision of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 18 of March 17, 2016

COMMENTS: Decision No. 18 of the Eurasian Economic Commission implements paragraph 27 of the Technical Regulations for Tobacco Products and regulates the format and position of picture and text warnings, as well as the images to be used, on tobacco product packaging. Originally, the required warnings and images were required to appear on all tobacco product packages for retail sale by November 15, 2017. However, pursuant to Eurasian Economic Commission Council Decision No. 209 of December 18, 2018, the effective date of the requirements in Armenia has been delayed to January 1, 2024.

Decision No. 219 on the Approval of the Technical Regulations on Tobacco Safety and on Declaring Ineffective Decision No. 540 of April 28, 2005 (as amended)

10 Aug, 2016

COMMENTS: Decision No. 219 of March 5, 2015 (as amended) establishes the health warnings and other packaging and labeling requirements, replacing the requirements contained in Resolution No. 540-N on Approving the Technical Regulation of Tobacco.

Eurasian Economic Commission Council Decision No. 115 of July 17, 2018 Amending Decision No. 53 of May 12, 2015

21 Jul, 2018

COMMENTS: Eurasian Economic Commission Council Decision No. 115 of July 17, 2018 amends the effective date of Decision No. 53 of May 12, 2015 for Armenia. Pursuant to Decision No. 115, the effective date for pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages was delayed until January 15, 2019. However, it was later delayed further to January 1, 2024.

Eurasian Economic Commission Council Decision No. 209 of December 18, 2018 Amending Decision No. 53 of May 12, 2015

22 Dec, 2018

COMMENTS: Eurasian Economic Commission Council Decision No. 209 of December 18, 2018 further amends the effective date of Decision No. 53 of May 12, 2015 for Armenia. Pursuant to Decision No. 209, the effective date of the Technical Regulations for Tobacco Products was delayed until January 1, 2024.

Law Making Amendments to the Law on Local Duties and Payments

23 Feb, 2020

Note: This law has not been reviewed by our legal staff and was not relied upon for purposes of our analysis. We are providing it here for informational purposes only.

Law Making Amendments to and Supplementing the Law on Local Self-Government

23 Feb, 2020

Note: This law has not been reviewed by our legal staff and was not relied upon for purposes of our analysis. We are providing it here for informational purposes only.

Law on Reduction and Prevention of the Damage Caused by the Use of Tobacco Products and Substitutions for Them

21 Mar, 2020

COMMENTS: The Law on Reduction and Prevention of the Damage Caused by the Use of Tobacco Products and Substitutions for Them is the primary legislation on tobacco control. The law has subsequently been amended; this legislation is uploaded separately below.

Law Making Amendments to the Law on Advertising

21 Mar, 2020

COMMENTS: This law amends the Law on Advertising to prohibit all forms of tobacco advertising. 

Law Making Amendments to and Supplementing the Code on Administrative Offenses

21 Mar, 2020

COMMENTS: This law contains amendments to the Code on Administrative Offenses relevant to the provisions of the Law on Reduction and Prevention of the Damage Caused by the Use of Tobacco Products and Substitutions for Them.

Law Making Amendments to the Law on Reduction and Prevention of Harm to Health as a Result of the Use of Tobacco Products and Their Substitutes

30 Dec, 2020

COMMENTS: This law delays the effective dates of certain provisions of the Law on Reduction and Prevention of Harm to Health as a Result of the Use of Tobacco Products and Their Substitutes.

Decision No. 155-N on Approving the Technical Regulations for the Safety of Tobacco Substitute Products

11 Feb, 2022

COMMENTS: Decision No. 155-N on Approving the Technical Regulations for the Safety of Tobacco Substitute Products regulates e-cigarettes. Regulations include restrictions on flavors and other additives, packaging requirements, and a maximum nicotine concentration.

Law Making Amendments to the Law on Reduction and Prevention of Harm to Health as a Result of the Use of Tobacco Products and Their Substitutes

15 Mar, 2022

COMMENTS: This law amends the definition of "imitations of tobacco products" contained in the Law on Reduction and Prevention of Harm to Health as a Result of the Use of Tobacco Products and Their Substitutes.

To the best of our knowledge, all laws provided here are in effect as of September 21, 2022 unless otherwise noted.