Age limits under the Tobacco Act

Tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids may not be sold or otherwise handed over or transmitted to persons under 18 years of age. Moreover, tobacco substitutes, smoking accessories and electronic cigarettes may not be sold or otherwise handed over to persons under 18 years of age in business activities. The Tobacco Act also provides for the notification of the sales ban and the seller’s age limits.

Age of the seller

A person selling tobacco products, tobacco substitutes, smoking accessories, electronic cigarettes or nicotine-containing liquids in business activities must be at least 18 years of age. However, a person younger than that may sell the said products, if they are sold under the supervision of a person who has reached the age of 18.

A seller under the age of 18 working at the cash register can sell tobacco products if an adult seller is also present at the sales outlet to supervise the sales transaction. However, this supervision will not take place if the adult seller is not present in the sales situation itself or lacks immediate and continuous visual contact with the sales transaction. An example of this is when the adult is several cash registers away.

Notification of the sales ban

According to the Tobacco Act, the sales outlet of tobacco products, tobacco substitutes, smoking accessories, nicotine-containing liquids and electronic cigarettes must display the following notice on the age limits of sales, which is clearly visible to customers:

“The sale of tobacco products, tobacco substitutes, smoking accessories, electronic cigarettes and nicotine-containing liquids to persons under 18 years of age is prohibited.”

The sales ban notice must be in a place where the customer can read it easily in the sales situation. You can print a sales ban notice prepared by Valvira for your own use. The notification can be found at the end of this page under Files.