German ministers agreed Wednesday to introduce legislation that would ban smoking in trains and other means of transport as well as raise the legal age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18.

The proposal will be discussed by the government on 28 February and will then have to be approved by both chambers of the federal parliaments, Bundestag and Bundesrat, before becoming effective. The government would like to see the law enforced this year.
The change of the minimum smoking age would inflict further costs to the vending machine industry which has already spent millions of euros in 2006 to convert its machines to recognise age verifications from bankcards and driving licences.
The government seeks to ban smoking in trains, buses, ferries and aircraft, as well as taxis. It has no power to ban smoking in restaurants, which fall under the authority of Germany's 16 federal states, but has full authority over transport, thus enabling it to ban smoking in all means of public transport. (pi)