Public Health Minister Shona Robison will today announce that the minimum age for buying cigarettes is to be increased from 16 to 18.

The move is the culmination of plans set in motion by Andy Kerr, the health minister in the previous executive.

He said he wanted to increase the age limit as a way of preventing young people from becoming addicted to nicotine early in life.

A consultation exercise by the executive found widespread support for the move among health experts, local authorities and the tobacco firms themselves.

England and Wales have already announced that they will increase the age limit to 18 from October 1, but the decision north of the border was delayed because of the Holyrood election.

Ms Robison will announce that Scotland is following suit during an engagement in Dundee today.

Last night, both pro and anti-smoking campaigners welcomed the move. But they warned it must be backed up by a publicity campaign and strict sanctions against shopkeepers who flout the law.

Maureen Moore OBE, chief executive of ASH Scotland, which lobbies for tobacco control, said: "Scotland has the highest rate of young smokers in Britain so I hope this will help reduce the numbers of young people taking up smoking. The move sends a clear message about the health hazards of tobacco use and also brings Scotland into line with the rest of Britain."

Ms Moore pointed to a report which last week showed that 82% of 15- year-olds and nearly half of 13-year-olds who smoke claimed to buy their cigarettes from a shop.

She said that cigarette licensing, along the lines of alcohol licensing, should be introduced.

She said: "If the new purchase age is to do any good then effective enforcement of the law, backed by tobacco licensing, is vital."

"Retailers who sell cigarettes to anyone under age must be properly penalised. Licensing means licence suspension and ultimately revocation for repeated violation can be used as enforcement tools as well as implementing a system of fines.

"Licensing would also help the targeting and funding of enforcement efforts. Adequate resources must also be made available to ensure proper enforcement and to run campaigns to back the change."

The Scottish Grocers' Federation, which represents some 5500 stores, called on the executive to introduce free national proof of age cards as a measure against intimidation or abuse of staff.

SGF chief executive John Drummond said: "Proof of age is vital to ensuring that community stores are safe places for consumers and staff alike.

"Reforming the age to smoke continues Scotland's progressive leadership in this area but it must not be done at the expense of the safety of shop workers.

"With 16 and 17-year-olds set to lose their ability to smoke overnight, it is shop workers, not the police or politicians, who will be expected to enforce the law."

Neil Rafferty, spokesman for Forest, which campaigns against smoking restrictions, said the new rules must be effectively policed.

He said: "We've got no problem with raising the age limit to 18 because cigarettes are not for children. The problem is that the existing age limit has not been enforced."

He said the number of prosecutions "is pitifully low and so unless there is a proper enforcement regime to back up this new age limit, then you may as well raise it to 118".