Councils wrestle over final details in new tobacco products law

The new legislation aims to take measures to reduce the use of tobacco products - whether they are smoked, heated, snorted or taken orally. The bill is expected to be cleaned up by the end of the current fall session.

Only on a few points of the bill have the councils not yet reached agreement. For example, the National Council wants to ban ingredients in tobacco products that increase the potential for addiction or facilitate inhalation. Representatives of the SVP, FDP and Mitte parliamentary groups unsuccessfully resisted the ban on menthol cigarettes on Thursday. The Council of States has so far not wanted to hear anything about such a ban.

In addition, the Council of States wants to regulate the prohibited ingredients in the law itself. If the National Council has its way, on the other hand, the Federal Council should have the authority to decide which ingredients of tobacco products should be banned and which should not.

Finally, according to the National Council, the use of e-cigarettes should be permitted in certain zones of specialized sales outlets. The Council of States wants to delete this exception in the Federal Act on Protection against Passive Smoking.

Cantons may issue stricter rules

The Councils did, however, agree on another point: sales promotion should be prohibited not only for tobacco products for smoking, but also for other product categories. The National Council agreed with the Council of States on this point.

The difference in the decision-making authority of the cantons was also resolved. According to the parliamentary resolution, the cantons should be able to enact stricter advertising, sponsorship and sales promotion regulations than those provided for in the national law. The National Council originally wanted to delete this article from the law, but now followed the Council of States.

Initiators dissatisfied

Regardless of how parliament decides on the remaining differences: The people and the cantons will have the final say on the future handling of tobacco products. The newly planned restrictions on tobacco advertising do not go far enough for the authors of the popular initiative "Yes to protecting children and young people from tobacco advertising (children and young people without tobacco advertising)". They will not be satisfied with the indirect counter-proposal.

The initiators take issue, for example, with the fact that advertising in the press and on the Internet should not be prohibited in principle in the future. The ban should only apply to press products and websites "intended for minors". The petition for a referendum, on the other hand, calls for a complete ban on tobacco advertising that reaches children or young people.

"Fabric softener revision" versus "paternalism" policy

The discussion of the differences in the National Council partly degenerated into a renewed debate on principles. The present law does not meet the requirements for the protection of children and young people, said Flavia Wasserfallen (SP/BE). Manuela Weichelt (Greens/ZG) spoke of a "fabric softener revision".

On the other side of the Council, Andreas Glarner (SVP/AG) warned against a "paternalism policy" in which the population would gradually be banned from everything. "The protection of minors must not be used as a pretext for a general ban on advertising legal tobacco products," Regine Sauter (FDP/ZH) also pointed out.

The Center Group and the Green Liberals are divided. Christian Lohr (center/TG) pleaded for the business "to be brought to an end in such a way that we can implement it". He said it was a matter of strengthening the protection of minors in a targeted manner and at the same time not preventing freedom of action in the economic sphere. "The weighing of interests is not always easy," said Jörg Mäder (GLP/ZH). (SDA)