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New Swiss tobacco law protects children nationwide

Minors can no longer buy tobacco in Switzerland
Minors can no longer buy tobacco in Switzerland Keystone / Gaetan Bally

A new federal law comes into force across Switzerland on October 1, obliging all cantons to restrict the sale of tobacco products to adults.

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The new Tobacco Products Act ends the cantonal patchwork of rules on selling cigarettes, snuff, e-cigarettes and other tobacco linked products.

+ Switzerland: the land of the tobacco industry

Until now, children have been able to buy cigarettes in the cantons of Schwyz and Appenzell Innerrhoden as there was no legal age of consent. Meanwhile, in other cantons, potential buyers had to be 16 or 18 years old. Now everyone has to be of legal age to buy tobacco products.

The new federal law also restricts advertising. Tobacco advertisements are no longer permitted on public property, and on private property only if they cannot be seen from public property. Events aimed at minors are no longer permitted to have tobacco sponsors. Free promotional gifts related to tobacco consumption are also no longer permitted.

Smoking electronic cigarettes at the station will also be restricted and will only be permitted in designated smoking areas. The rules against passive smoking now apply to all tobacco products.

However, it is still unclear how the national tobacco products law will be implemented, how high the fines will be, and whether or not there will be controls, which falls under the responsibility of the cantons.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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