Switzerland is tightening up its restrictions on vaping products, bringing its policies further in line with the broader European attitude towards safer nicotine products. Joining us today is Michael Landl who provides his analysis of the latest regulatory changes and the impact they may have on vapers.
Chapters:
0:00 - Coming up on today's programme 0:50 - Switzerland targets safer nicotine products 3:25 - Health warnings become mandatory 4:21 - When did these regulations come into effect? 4:49 - National age restriction implemented 6:09 - Vape advertising comes under spotlight 7:28 - Will this solution work?Transcription:
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Joanna Junak: Hello and welcome! I'm Joanna Junak and this is GFN News on GFN.TV. The current regulations on tobacco products in Switzerland are complex and spread across multiple acts and ordinances. The new tobacco products law and the revised tobacco products ordinance, which came into effect on October 1st of this year, aim to establish uniform regulations for tobacco products throughout Switzerland. Joining us today to summarize the new regulations in Switzerland is Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers Alliance. Hello Michael. What are the most significant changes affecting vaping and nicotine pouches under the new regulations?
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Michael Landl: Yeah, I mean, it's the first thing to know is that it's only effective since October 1st this year. And generally, it's two legislative processes and combined, they will implement stricter regulations for both traditional tobacco products, but all other safer nicotine products as well. So vaping or nicotine pouches and those kind of things are included. as well. The main problem or the main key aspect of it is that the new regulation will be especially for vaping tighter because it used to be the case that that was excluded of many of the tobacco laws and now the goal is to bring in all new products as well. And they will be treated more or less the same as smoking in many aspects. One example is that for the outdoor smoking ban, so wherever smoking is forbidden outdoors, now vaping will be banned as well. So that's very similar of what the EU Commission proposed very recently. Additionally, there will be stricter advertisement regulations and there is also a new tax implemented for nicotine alternative products. So on the one hand, that's problematic because it makes it more expensive, but at least Switzerland follows a risk-based taxation approach. So they clearly say less harmful alternative products should be taxed less so that there is an incentive to switch. So it's good and bad at the same time. And another key aspect which needs to be known is that this regulation is a minimum regulation on the national level. So that means that the cantons, the federal states, they can go above the current regulation. So if they want to implement stricter rules, they are allowed to do that. They just can't have less strict rules.
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Joanna Junak: Okay. And what specific health warnings and information will need to be displayed on the packaging for both traditional cigarettes and alternative nicotine products?
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Michael Landl: All those products, so traditional cigarettes and new nicotine alternatives must include clear health warnings, the product names and the nicotine content. And all this information must be displayed in all three official languages, so in German, French and Italian. So it will be a lot of information on the new packages. And what they also introduce is that the nicotine-containing products, such as the nicotine bottles, for example, they must feature gel-proof and leak-proof packaging. So that is also very similar to the EU rules, actually.
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Joanna Junak: How long will the transition period for manufacturers and importers take?
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Michael Landl: Yeah, as I said, it's coming into effect from October 1st and now manufacturers and importers have a one year transition period. And that means all products currently are still allowed with the old regulation to be sold for one year. But from then on, all new products must follow the new rules.
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Joanna Junak: Many regulations around the world are being created to protect minors from using tobacco and nicotine products. So how does the new legislation aim to protect minors in Switzerland?
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Michael Landl: There are two main things which will be changing. The new regulation is banning sales for under 18 year olds. In Switzerland it used to be the case that the cantons or the states made these laws and some of them still had 16 as minimum age. So it's kind of a harmonization of this law and it will be for all Switzerland. Under 18, sales of any nicotine product will be banned. And an important thing is also that for the first time now on a national level, test purchases will be allowed. So basically that undercover agents can go into tobacco shops and see if they would sell to minors. So it's an additional way of implementing the law and making sure that the law is enforced. And we will see tighter regulation on advertisement as well.
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Joanna Junak: Yes, speaking about advertisement, are there any changes regarding this matter?
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Michael Landl: Yeah, it used to be the case that Switzerland actually had a bit softer regulation on advertising and a bit more was allowed compared to the European Union. But the new law imposes stricter advertisement regulation and that includes banning advertisements targeted to minors, prohibiting for sponsorships of events where underage audiences have access to, and banning posters and commercials in public spaces. And this last part might be a bit problematic because it's not clear yet how that applies to vape shops because it's not clear if a vape shop calls itself vape shop if that would be already considered advertisement or not. So there is still some debate about this. And the rest of the advertisement is also now very similar to the EU. So it's not too much of a change. Just this relaxed approach is now more applicable to the EU law too.
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Joanna Junak: Okay, and the last question to you, Michael. Many countries create new regulations instead of using existing ones. So, what do you think about Switzerland move? What's your opinion on it?
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Michael Landl: It's always a little bit of a problem when existing regulation is not enforced and then we add on new regulation and somehow people think magically this time it will be enforced and applied. We see that all the time with the flavor ban debates or with the youth protection debates because for young people under 18, it's almost everywhere already banned that they can vape or buy cigarettes. But they're still able to do it. So if we ban flavors, I don't understand why people would think that then there doesn't emerge a black market. So I think that's why this one part with test purchases and a focus on enforcing the law is actually positive because we can have all the laws in the world. If they are not enforced, they don't make any changes or even have bad outcomes. We see that, for example, in Australia. where vaping is essentially banned, but it's still no problem for people to purchase them on the black market. And then we know what the problems are with no safety control, quality standards, those kind of things.
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Joanna Junak: Thank you, Michael. That's all for today. Tune in next time here on GFN TV or on our podcast. You can also find transcriptions of each episode on the GFN TV website. Thanks for watching or listening, see you next time!