A focused look at the EU and the NIS countries

The NIS countries are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Significant differences between the EU countries and the NIS countries relate to promotional discounts and product placement:

  • EU - Promotional discounts are banned in 59% of the EU countries (banned in 16 out of 27 countries) and product placement is banned in 81% of the EU countries (22 out of 27 countries)
  • NIS – Promotional discounts are banned in 25% of the NIS countries (3 out of 12 countries) and product placement is banned in25% of the NIS countries.
  • WHO European Region - Promotional discounts are banned in 51% for the WHO European countries (27 out of 53 countries) and product placement is banned in 72% of the WHO European countries (38 out of 53 countries).

The percentage of the NIS countries banning brand stretching and brand sharing is lower than the regional percentage:

  • EU - The EU countries match the regional average noting that brand stretching is banned in 19% of the EU countries and brand sharing in 15% of the EU countries.
  • NIS - Only 8% of the NIS countries (1 out of 12 countries) have banned brand stretching and brand sharing.
  • WHO European Region - 19% of the WHO European Region has banned brand stretching and 17% has banned brand sharing.

In contrast, the regulation of vending machines is much higher in the NIS countries than in the rest of the WHO European Region:

  • EU - 52% of the EU countries (14 out of 27 countries) have banned vending machines.
  • NIS - 75% of the NIS countries (9 out of 12 countries) have banned vending machines.
  • WHO European Region - The average for the WHO European Region is 57% (30 out of 53 countries have banned vending machines).

EU Countries are lower than the regional average for the regulation of appearance of tobacco products in TV and/or films:

  • EU - This type of indirect tobacco advertising and promotion is only banned in 11% of the EU countries (3 out of 27 countries)
  • NIS - 25% of the NIS countries (3 out of 12 countries) have banned this form of indirect tobacco advertising and promotion.
  • WHO European Region - The regional average is 23% of the WHO European countries (12 out of 53 countries).