Tag: Switzerland

  • Tobacco Violates Human Rights: Report

    Tobacco Violates Human Rights: Report

    Photo: Corgarashu

    OxySuisse and Action on Smoking and Health accuse the tobacco industry of violating human rights and Swiss authorities of complacency, reports SWI. Switzerland hosts the headquarters of Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International.

    In a recent report, the nongovernmental organizations analyze the tobacco industry’s behavior from a human rights perspective. In their paper, the authors assert that the tobacco industry is incompatible with fundamental human rights. The production and marketing of addictive and deadly products, they argue, infringes the right to health, the right to life and the right to a healthy environment, OxySuisse says.

    Despite suffering around 9,500 smoking-related deaths annually, Switzerland lags far behind its peers in the fight against smoking, ranking 36 out of 37 European countries, notes OxySuisse.

    This discrepancy can be explained by the weight of the tobacco industry in the Swiss Confederation, according to the nongovernmental organization. “The presence in Switzerland of two of the country’s influential tobacco multinationals is one of the reasons for the failure to implement effective smoking prevention policies,” Michela Canevascini, director of OxySuisse, told Swiss public television on Oct. 8.

    Switzerland, she noted, prioritizes the commercial interests of these companies at the expense of the Swiss population’s health.

  • Switzerland Implements National Age Restrictions

    Switzerland Implements National Age Restrictions

    Photo: Lucia

    Switzerland has enacted a new federal law requiring all cantons to restrict the sale of tobacco products to adults, reports SWI.

    The new tobacco products act ends the cantonal patchwork of rules on cigarettes and tobacco-related products.

    Before Oct. 1, when the new law took effect, the cantons of Schwyz and Appenzell Innerrhoden had no age restrictions on tobacco sales. In other cantons, potential buyers had to be 16 or 18 years old.

    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.

    Public smoking restrictions now apply to all tobacco products.

    It remains unclear however how the federal law will be implemented as enforcement remains the responsibility of individual cantons.

  • Senate Insists on Exceptions to Ad Ban

    Senate Insists on Exceptions to Ad Ban

    Photo: swisshippo

    The Swiss Senate is insisting on exceptions to nationwide restrictions on tobacco advertising poised to take force, reports Swissinfo.

    In a 2022 ballot, a majority of voters and most of the country’s cantons backed a proposal to ban all tobacco and e-cigarette advertising that may reach young people in Switzerland.

    Both chambers of Parliament are now debating how to implement the successful popular initiative.

    On Sept. 16, the Senate approved the bill by 28 votes to 12 with four abstentions. However, lawmakers stopped short of a comprehensive ban by maintaining exceptions for tobacco advertising in public places that are neither accessible nor visible to minors and for mobile sales staff in publicly accessible places.

    The ball is now back in the House of Representatives’ court.

  • Switzerland to Tighten Tobacco Rules

    Switzerland to Tighten Tobacco Rules

    Photo: Heorshe

    Switzerland will strengthen its restriction on tobacco advertising and nicotine product notification requirements effective Oct. 1, reports Swissinfo.

    The new rules include a nationwide ban on sales to people under the age of 18 and stricter advertising restrictions, for example on posters, on public transport, in cinemas, in publicly accessible buildings such as train stations and airports and on sports grounds.

    Existing smoking bans will now also apply to heated products and electronic cigarettes.

    Sponsorship of events with an international character or for an underage audience is no longer permitted.

    Cigarette manufacturers will also be required to print pictorial warnings on tobacco packaging

  • Smoking Rates Still High in Switzerland

    Smoking Rates Still High in Switzerland

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Nearly a quarter of Switzerland’s population (24 percent) smoked in 2022, down 3 percentage points from the rate in 2017, reports Le News, citing new data from the Federal Statistical Office. The decline in smoking is a relatively new phenomenon in Switzerland. In 1992, 30 percent of the population aged 15 and over reported smoking.

    The reduction has been most pronounced among educated people. In 2022, Swiss without post-compulsory education smoked more frequently and more heavily than those who had completed a university or higher vocational education. This distinction too is new. Thirty years ago, there were hardly any differences in smoking by level of education.

    New types of tobacco products or e-cigarettes are particularly popular among younger people, consumed by 17 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds in 2022.

    Despite the recent declines, Swiss smoking rates remain high compared with many other nations. Rates in the U.K. (14 percent), Norway (14 percent), Canada (12 percent) and Australia (13 percent) are far lower.  

    Meanwhile, public smoking remains widely tolerated in Switzerland. Many smokers will light up on train platforms, where it is largely banned, at bus stops or while seated at outside restaurant tables.

  • PMI to produce BAT cigarettes in Switzerland

    PMI to produce BAT cigarettes in Switzerland

    Photo: PMI

    Philip Morris International and BAT have entered into a contract manufacturing agreement for cigarette production in Neuchatel, Switzerland, reports Le Temps.

    “[L]imited volumes of BAT cigarettes will take place in the PMI factory located in Neuchatel,” BAT wrote in a press note cited by the newspaper. “This is an agreement specific to the Swiss domestic market.”

    Only part of the cigarette volumes intended for the Swiss market will be produced in Neuchatel; the rest, as well as previously exported volumes, will be manufactured in other BAT factories.

    Six positions will be added at the Boncourt site, according to BAT, bringing the total number of positions at the site to about 20.

    BAT Switzerland announced this summer that it would maintain its warehouse and shipping department in Boncourt. The company’s head office remains in the canton of Jura.

  • Switzerland to Ban Youth Advertising

    Switzerland to Ban Youth Advertising

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Switzerland will ban advertising of tobacco and vapor products to young people, the government announced on May 24, report Reuters and Swiss Info.

    In February 2022, Swiss voters backed a proposal to limit tobacco promotions seen by minors. Following the referendum, the government had to adjust Switzerland’s tobacco product law to incorporate the proposal.

    The new law will come into force from mid-2026 and will also strengthen restrictions on packaging and advertising on tobacco and e-cigarettes due to take effect from next year.

    In the future, no advertising for tobacco products or e-cigarettes will be allowed in print media, shops or events that can be visited by minors. In addition, sponsorship of events that people under 18 attend will be banned. Online advertising will still be permitted provided that age control systems are in place.

    The tobacco industry will also be made to collectively disclose its advertising expenditure, but companies will not be required to individually reveal this information. The government believes advertising plays an important role in the decision to start smoking.

    Smoking remains relatively widespread in Switzerland with 9,500 people dying prematurely every year as a result of tobacco consumption, according to the government. In 2022, 6.9 percent of Swiss 11-year-olds to 15-year-olds had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days while 5.7 percent of youths aged 15 to 24 had used electronic cigarettes at least once a month, the government said.

    Switzerland is home to several tobacco multinationals, including Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International.

  • BAT to Close Swiss Plant

    BAT to Close Swiss Plant

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    BAT will close a cigarette manufacturing plant in Switzerland in 2023, reports Reuters.

    The closure will cause the layoff of 226 workers. Employees will be given an “advantageous social package,” according to SwissInfo.

    “BAT Switzerland confirms that a final decision has been made to transfer cigarette production from Boncourt to larger factories within Europe and to close the Boncourt site,” BAT said in a statement.

    Boncourt Mayor Lionel Maitre said the closure is “a shock, a disappointment, a feeling of desperation and a mess.” The factory closure will cause Boncourt to lose its biggest taxpayer.

    “Let’s be clear—this is a hard blow, but we will overcome it, and the situation is not hopeless,” said Jura government President David Eray. “This decision brings us face-to-face with the painful consequences that we feared.”

    In 2014, BAT closed a research and development facility in Boncourt, laying off about 15 people.

  • BAT to Close Boncourt Factory

    BAT to Close Boncourt Factory

    Photo: BAT

    BAT will close its Boncourt cigarette factory in Switzerland and move production elsewhere in Europe, reports SWI.

    The factory employs more than 200 people, around half of them cross-border workers from France.

    The closure will not affect BAT’s Lausanne office, which employs more than 100 other staff.

    Boncourt mayor Lionel Maître described the decision as “a shock, a disappointment, a feeling of desperation and a mess.”

    The Boncourt factory was founded by the Burrus family in 1814 and was taken over by Rothmans International in 1996 before merging with BAT three years later. In 1887, the site started producing Parisienne, which is the second best-selling cigarette brand in Switzerland.

    In 2014, BAT closed a research and development facility in Boncourt with the loss of around 15 jobs.

  • Switzerland Proposes E-Cigarette Taxes

    Switzerland Proposes E-Cigarette Taxes

    Photo: Comugnero Silvana

    The Swiss government has proposed new taxes for electronic cigarettes, reports SWI.

    Under the plan, reusable cigarettes would be subject to a levy of CHF0.20 ($0.20) per milliliter of liquid, and disposable e-cigarettes would attract a tax of CHF1 per milliliter of liquid regardless of the nicotine content.

    The higher tax rate for single use e-cigarettes is intended to deter underage consumption.

    The proposal is forecast to bring in around CHF13.8 million in extra tax revenues per year.

    Earlier this year, voters supported a ballot to limit advertising for all tobacco products that may be seen by young people.