New Swiss tobacco law: are minors sufficiently protected?

Are minors in Switzerland sufficiently protected from the risks of tobacco consumption? Keystone/Ennio Leanza

On October 1, the new Tobacco Products Act came into force across Switzerland. At the same time, the Swiss parliament is debating the implementation of the “Yes to the protection of children against tobacco advertising” people’s initiative, which was approved by voters in 2022. What is your opinion on the need to protect minors from tobacco consumption? Join the discussion on “dialogue”!

In Switzerland, tobacco causes 9,500 deaths a year. The health costs for the general public can amount to billions of Swiss francs. On Tuesday, the new Tobacco Products Act came into force. It contains several major changes.

First, the new federal law ends the cantonal patchwork of rules on selling cigarettes, snuff, e-cigarettes and other tobacco-linked products. Until now, children have been able to buy cigarettes in the cantons of Schwyz and Appenzell Inner Rhodes, as there was no legal age of consent. In other cantons, potential buyers had to be 16 or 18 years old. Now, with the new Tobacco Products Act, you can only buy tobacco products if you are of legal age (18).  

Second, tobacco advertisements are no longer permitted on public property, including public transport and buildings, around sports grounds and at sporting events, as well as in cinemas. However, this does not apply to stores or private property if – in the latter case – the ad cannot be seen from public property.

Finally, promotions involving free product giveaways are also prohibited, as are competitions with prizes. The same goes for sponsoring events “of international character or aimed at minors”.

Is the law too lenient?

Although the new federal law came into force this week, the topic is still being discussed in parliament. Members are debating the implementation of the “Yes to the protection of children against tobacco advertising” people’s initiative, which was approved by the electorate in February 2022 and is expected to come into force in 2026.

The supporters of the initiative aim to ban tobacco advertising wherever it is likely to reach minors: that is, everywhere.

In short, according to those in favour of the initiative, ads for tobacco products and e-cigarettes should be prohibited in both private and public properties, including stores, and in areas to which young people have access: all print media, the internet under certain conditions, and all festivals – not just those “of international character or aimed at minors”.

What is your opinion on the need to protect minors from tobacco consumption? Join the multilingual debate on “dialogue”, an offer of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company.

Switzerland, the black sheep in the fight against smoking

Switzerland is the black sheep in the fight against tobacco: that’s what the World Health Organization (WHO) thinks, having strongly criticised the country at the launch of a publication on smoking prevention in September 2023.

Swiss French-language public radio RTS spoke to Kerstin Schotte of the WHO’s tobacco control unit:

A long way from legislation to practice

As of June 2023, the sale of “puff bars” to minors is legally prohibited in canton Ticino, in southern Switzerland. However, according to a report by Swiss Italian-language public television RSI, one in four retailers do not check the age of young people who want to buy these disposable electronic cigarettes.

Watch the full report on RSI:

Why is the tobacco lobby so powerful in Switzerland?

The Swiss tobacco industry is relatively successful in transferring its economic weight to political influence, which is also shown by the Global Tobacco IndustryExternal link Interference Index. In its ranking, Switzerland is at the bottom of this index, coming in 89^th place out of 90.

Watch the report by Swiss German-language public television SRF for more information on the topic:

Parents have more influence over their children than they think. Addiction SwitzerlandExternal link offers practical guides on how to talk to young people about smoking and vaping.

Adapted from French by Claire Micallef/gw