Spain tightens regulations on all tobacco and nicotine products

The Spanish Ministry of Health has finalised an ambitious comprehensive plan against smoking that introduces, among other things, a ban on smoking on restaurant terraces, beaches and in cars, a restriction on online advertising, a ban on flavours, the introduction of plain packaging and a tax increase. These measures concern all tobacco and nicotine products.[1]The plan, which was supposed to cover the period between 2021 and 2025, was delayed due to the pandemic.[2].

The plan's objective is to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by a third by 2030. It also aims to achieve the goal set with the World Health Organization (WHO) of reducing smoking prevalence by 30% between 2010 and 2025. In Spain, 20% of citizens over 15 years of age smoke regularly, as indicated by the European Health Survey in Spain 2020.

A global strategy to achieve a tobacco-free generation in Spain

Health Minister Carolina Darias said that Spain intends to follow the standards set by the European Union and the WHO, which aim to achieve a tobacco-free generation in the coming years. To this end, the 119-page document proposed a comprehensive series of short, medium and long-term measures to protect the right to health of Spanish citizens, in line with the government's obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Use thus plans to significantly increase tobacco/smoke-free spaces by 2023, particularly in outdoor areas. Seven autonomous communities in Spain had already adopted the "Terrazas sin Humo" (Smoke-free Terraces) measure as a tool against covid that prohibits smoking traditional and electronic cigarettes on the outdoor terraces of bars and restaurants[3]In its new plan, the government proposes to generalize this ban to the entire country. This evolution of the national regulation would also include certain spaces of the private sphere such as private vehicles where smoking would also be prohibited.

The ministry also proposes to follow the example of France and the United Kingdom by introducing plain packaging for manufactured cigarettes. Flavoured cigarettes and cigars will also be banned from sale.

Including new tobacco and nicotine products in regulations

The prepared plan recognizes that vigilance is needed with regard to new forms of nicotine consumption such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco and that awareness must be raised about these products. The Ministry of Health thus wishes to amend Law 28/2005 and Royal Decree 579/2017, taking into account in the regulation of the fight against smoking, the new situation induced on the market with the appearance of new products.

Carolina Darias expressed her concern about the sale of new products online, including electronic cigarettes, explaining that "there are a large number of websites where nicotine-based devices can be purchased, and the terms blocking access to minors are neither sufficient nor effective." The government wants to prevent the sale of these products online and only tobacconists should be authorized to sell tobacco with reinforced control of the age of buyers.

To prevent the initiation of tobacco consumption, the ministry has defined a tax policy. The plan proposes to promote the revision of the taxation of tobacco products to achieve an increase and a rapprochement of their price. Special taxes will be applied to electronic cigarettes in order to reduce their consumption.

The plan also provides for transposing the regulations on the ban on advertising, promotion, sponsorship in favor of tobacco products to other products, known as related products (new nicotine products). Mechanisms for controlling and monitoring disguised advertising on social networks will be associated for the effectiveness of the measures.

Keywords: Spain, Tobacco Free Generation, tobacco-free places, new products, regulations, tobacco control

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE