Smoking in Argentina accounts for 15% of total tobacco consumption in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

. As of 2010, there is no nation-wide smoking ban

Smoking ban

Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, which prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and/or other public spaces...

, but there are a number of bans in different jurisdictions, and a nationwide governmental

Government of Argentina

The government of Argentina, functioning within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. Legislative power is vested in both the...

 campaign against tobacco smoking and advertising

Tobacco advertising

Tobacco advertising is the advertising of tobacco products or use by the tobacco industry through a variety of media including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing...

.

The Ministry of Health estimates 33.5% of the adult population of Argentina smokes, and 30% start smoking before 11 years of age; tobacco causes more than 100 deaths every day in Argentina (40,000 per year, 6,000 due to secondhand smoke), and the cost of the treatment of tobacco-related diseases amounts to 4.3 million Argentine peso

Argentine peso

The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...

s ($1.39 million USD

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

) per year, 15.5% of the total public expenditure on health care

Health care

Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...

. The government only collects 3.5 million pesos per year in taxes on cigarettes.

Law

National Law 23344, passed on 29 August 1986, established restrictions on advertising and promotion of tobacco, and dictated that cigarette

Cigarette

A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...

 packs must include a legend warning that Smoking is harmful to health, but did not include sanctions against violations of the law; these were added later, and then partially vetoed.

WHO Framework Convention

In September 2003 Argentina signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is a treaty adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003. It became the first World Health Organization treaty adopted under article 19 of the WHO constitution. The treaty came into force on February 27, 2005...

, though ratification was delayed by two years. Analysts blame tobacco industry

Tobacco industry in Argentina

The tobacco industry of Argentina produced 157,294 tonnes of tobacco in the 2003/2004 harvest, most of which was exported. The planted area was 831.75 km², of which 776 were harvested....

 interests for this delay, as with previous failures in implementing serious anti-smoking policies.

Legislative deadlock

, a project to ban smoking in all public and enclosed spaces, sent by the Executive to the National Congress in August 2005, is waiting to be treated. Legislative lobbying from the tobacco industry is proposing an alternative, weaker law, championed by Jujuy Province

Jujuy Province

Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...

 Senator Liliana Fellner, who has called herself "the voice of the [tobacco] producers" (Jujuy is one the seven tobacco-producing provinces in Argentina).

Public sentiment

A nationwide telephone survey published in August 2006 showed overwhelming support of the population for laws that establish "smoke-free spaces" in public spaces such as offices, factories, shopping malls and banks (93.4% overall support, 85% among smokers), and that completely forbid smoking in schools, universities and hospitals (97%). More than three quarters among the surveyed (including almost two thirds of the smokers) also supported smoking bans for bars and restaurants.

Provincial and municipal laws on smoking

In 2003, according to national sources, 75% of the Argentine provinces

Provinces of Argentina

Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...

 had some form of smoking legislation. Either in addition to or in the absence of provincial laws, many municipalities

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 have local regulations to the same effect. Fines might be established for trespassers (tobacco companies, businesses and private individuals). The actual application of this legislation varies considerably.

• In Santa Fe
  Santa Fe Province
  The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
  
   it is forbidden to smoke in enclosed public spaces (offices, restaurants) and to sell tobacco to minors. (Provincial Law 12432)
• In La Rioja
  La Rioja Province (Argentina)
  La Rioja is a one of the provinces of Argentina and is located in the west of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Catamarca, Córdoba, San Luis and San Juan.-History:...
  
   and Chubut
  Chubut Province
  Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
  
   it is forbidden to smoke in enclosed spaces and in public offices.
• In Mendoza
  Mendoza Province
  The Province of Mendoza is a province of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders to the north with San Juan, the south with La Pampa and Neuquén, the east with San Luis, and to the west with the republic of Chile; the international limit is...
  
   there are also "smoke-free spaces" in schools, hospitals and other public buildings.
• In Córdoba
  Córdoba Province (Argentina)
  Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
  
   (Provincial Law 9113, Córdoba Municipal Order 11039) and Tucumán
  Tucumán Province
  Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and...
  
   (Provincial Law 7575), smoking bans for public places are in effect since mid-2006.
• In Buenos Aires City
  Buenos Aires
  Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
  
   it is forbidden to smoke in government offices and (since October 2006) in all public enclosed spaces, except in businesses of more than 100 m² where smoking areas have been set up. (Law 1799)
• Chaco
  Chaco Province
  Chaco is an Argentine province located in the north of the country, near the border with Paraguay. Its capital is Resistencia on the Paraná River opposite the city of Corrientes...
  
  , Neuquén
  Neuquén Province
  Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west...
  
  , Tierra del Fuego
  Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)
  Tierra del Fuego is an Argentine province entirely separated from mainland Argentina by the Strait of Magellan. It includes:* The eastern part of the Isla Grande of Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the Staten Island.* Argentina's claims to the Falkland Islands and to...
  
   and Salta
  Salta Province
  Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
  
  have similar laws, though they are not always respected or enforced.