Switzerland, long a safe haven for tobacco ads, weighs a ban

ZURICH • The images are jarring to visitors: happy, glamorous couples smoking in a cafe, packs of cigarettes opened invitingly, rugged Western landscapes that evoke the Marlboro Man.

While many countries have long banned cigarette advertising, it has lived on in Switzerland, where loose rules on the sale and marketing of tobacco products make the country an outlier in much of the Western world. The ads adorn billboards in cities, are shown in cinemas, and are ubiquitous at sports and cultural events like Montreux's famed jazz festival.

But much of that may start to fade away as Swiss voters decide in a referendum today whether to place curbs on tobacco ads that would effectively ban them in public spaces.

The initiative, which polls show is expected to pass, has been endorsed by health advocates who cite findings by bodies like the World Health Organisation that the ads encourage youth to smoke and make it harder for smokers to quit.

"We want to protect young people and ensure tobacco prevention efforts are not undermined through advertising," said Mr Hans Stockli, who is president of the committee behind the initiative.

The initiative has unsurprisingly been opposed by the tobacco industry, but also by the government, which has maintained unfashionably friendly links with tobacco firms that have set up regional and even global bases in Switzerland. A majority of MPs are also against it. They say jobs will be lost, since cigarettes rank with chocolate and cheese as some of the country's leading exports.

If voters approve the initiative, advertising for tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, would no longer be allowed in places or on websites accessible to those under 18.

Even though it would not be a blanket ban, it would still represent a significant change. Switzerland is one of the few places in Europe that has not introduced a nationwide ban on the sale of tobacco-related products to minors. Although some parts of the country ban sales to children under 18 or 16, others have no minimum age, and in many places young people can be seen puffing away in public.

Today's referendum came out of a 2015 proposal by the Federal Council, Switzerland's executive branch, for a law that would ban tobacco sales to minors and curb advertising. Parliament eventually approved an amended Bill that would leave most advertising intact.

If Swiss voters reject the initiative, the amended Bill will come into effect without the broad restrictions on ads.

NYTIMES