A ban on smoking in public institutions and workplaces came into effect in Croatia on October 27 2008, while there is a six-month grace period for restaurants and bars to comply.

The tobacco industry in the country has six months to comply with a requirement to have health warnings on the backs of cigarette packets, covering 40 per cent of the area. Packets must also display graphic images of the consequences of smoking to discourage people from the habit.

Restaurants and bar will be allowed to permit smoking on terraces and may have separate smoking rooms, but no food or drink may be served in these rooms.

Breaking the law will carry huge fines, up to 21 000 euro for proprietors of places where the ban is broken. Individuals who light up where smoking is forbidden will also face large fines.

One exception is allowed regarding the ban at medical institutions - smoking at psychiatric clinics will not be banned.

Croatian website Javno reported Andrija Hebrang, of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) member, as saying during debate in parliament that limiting the use of tobacco products could save 3000 lives of non-smokers a year in Croatia.

"The protection of non-smokers is the fundamental purpose of the proposed law," Hebrang said.

She said that the law would counteract the rise in smoking among children. Statistics say that in Croatia in recent years, the number of boy first-graders who smoke has gone up five per cent and girl first-graders by three per cent.