Commission of the Council of States wants to weaken tobacco advertising ban
Tobacco advertising should remain permitted in the inside sections of newspapers and magazines aimed mainly at adults. This is the demand of the responsible committee of the Council of States. It wants to adapt a corresponding bill of the Federal Council.
To protect children and young people from smoking, a ban on tobacco and e-cigarette advertising in printed media is expected to come into force in Switzerland from 2026 onwards (Werbewoche.ch reported). This is what the Federal Council wants. It also wants to ban the tobacco industry from sponsoring national events to which minors have access.
With these measures, the national government wants to implement the initiative "Children and young people without tobacco advertising", which was approved by the people and the cantons in February 2022. This calls for a ban on all tobacco advertising where it reaches minors. A dispatch on the amendment of the Tobacco Products Act now goes to parliament.
Not all the proposals of the Federal Council were well received by the Committee for Social Security and Health of the Council of States (SGK-S). It decided by 6 votes to 5 with 2 abstentions that advertising in the inner section of press products, the majority of which are sold to adults via subscriptions, should remain permitted, as the parliamentary services announced on Wednesday.
Tobacco advertising in public places should also remain possible, provided that it is neither visible nor accessible to minors. The Commission would also like to regulate the sponsorship of events in the same way. In addition, the reporting obligation for advertising expenditure by the tobacco industry is to be deleted from the bill.
Implementation with a sense of proportion
The majority of the commission justifies its decisions by saying that the popular initiative must be implemented "with a sense of proportion". The partial revision of the Tobacco Products Act should not go beyond the demands of the initiative.
Last year, the Federal Council sent its ideas for implementing the popular initiative out for consultation. There, they met with harsh criticism from the advertising industry and the tobacco industry. The proposal to impose an obligation on the tobacco industry to report advertising expenditure, sales promotion and sponsorship was particularly rejected.
The bill will be debated in the Council of States in the fall session. (SDA)
