Federal Council wants accession to WHO agreement and more advertising bans
The air is getting even thinner for smokers and tobacco advertisers in Switzerland. According to the head of the FOPH, Thomas Zeltner, the Federal Council is planning to join the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This means, among other things, a tightening of advertising laws.
The air is getting even thinner for smokers and tobacco advertisers in Switzerland. According to the head of the FOPH, Thomas Zeltner, the Federal Council is planning to join the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This means, among other things, a tightening of advertising laws. As Director of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), Zeltner took part in the media conference on the 4th European Conference "Tobacco or Health". As he said, he wants to expand tobacco prevention and make Switzerland one of the top ten European countries in this respect. According to a study by Luk Joossens, Switzerland is currently in 18th place - two years ago it was still in 24th place.
To further reduce the smoking rate, Zeltner wants to enforce interventions and bans. The head of the FOPH knows he has the backing of the Federal Council. The Federal Council wants to sign the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention in the next legislative period. If Swiss law is to meet its requirements, it will have to be tightened. To this end, tobacco should be removed from the Foodstuffs Act and regulated separately.
In concrete terms, this would mean a ban on posters in public spaces, a ban on cinema advertising and restrictions on sponsorship. Exactly what the latter will look like remains to be seen, said Zeltner, referring to major events such as the Davidoff Swiss Indoors tennis tournament or the AVO Session concert series in Basel. There will be transitional periods.
The price is the most effective factor in curbing consumption, said Joossens. In addition, bans and other measures such as blatant warnings are also effective. The EU is also aiming to reduce subsidies for tobacco cultivation. In Switzerland, all attempts to do this have so far failed, said Zeltner; nothing is happening at the moment.
To further reduce the smoking rate, Zeltner wants to enforce interventions and bans. The head of the FOPH knows he has the backing of the Federal Council. The Federal Council wants to sign the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention in the next legislative period. If Swiss law is to meet its requirements, it will have to be tightened. To this end, tobacco should be removed from the Foodstuffs Act and regulated separately.
In concrete terms, this would mean a ban on posters in public spaces, a ban on cinema advertising and restrictions on sponsorship. Exactly what the latter will look like remains to be seen, said Zeltner, referring to major events such as the Davidoff Swiss Indoors tennis tournament or the AVO Session concert series in Basel. There will be transitional periods.
The price is the most effective factor in curbing consumption, said Joossens. In addition, bans and other measures such as blatant warnings are also effective. The EU is also aiming to reduce subsidies for tobacco cultivation. In Switzerland, all attempts to do this have so far failed, said Zeltner; nothing is happening at the moment.
