Proposal to tighten tobacco legislation

• Abstract
• Purpose of health policy or idea
• Characteristics of this policy
• Political and economic background
• Purpose and process analysis
• Expected outcome
• References

Abstract

Sale, advertising and use of tobacco products in Finland has been increasingly regulated by legislation since the 70’s. In 2007 the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health nominated a working group to propose changes of tobacco legislation to further reduce the harm caused by tobacco products. The proposals included for example banning brand names and logos from retail outlets, restricting access to tobacco products for under 18-year-olds and banning the personal importation of snuf.

Purpose of health policy or idea

In November 2007 the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health nominated a working group to make suggestions for a reform of tobacco legislation in order to decrease health and societal harm caused by tobacco products. The working group finalised its work in December 2008 and proposed several new measures that could be implemented in the current tobacco legislation:

• to ban brand names and logos of tobacco products from retail outlets;
• to widen the smoking ban in public places (for example to hospitals, health centres and their outdoor areas, and some public outdoor events);
• to totally ban importation of snus (oral tobacco product commonly used in Sweden), even for personal use;
• to ban importation, purchasing and possession of tobacco products by 18-year-olds, to more explicitly ban the sale and handing over of tobacco products to under 18-year-olds and to define punishments for violations regarding this (gross sale violation would lead to a maximum punishment of four years imprisonment). Handing over tobacco products to under 18-year-olds is currently forbidden only directly from retail outlets;
• to ban importation and sale of products imitating tobacco products (such has candies looking like cigarettes);
• to ban the sale of tobacco products from vending machines.

The working group also suggested that the sale of nicotine replacement products could be expanded to pubs and restaurants. It is currently allowed in pharmacies, shops, kiosks and gasoline stations; see HPM 10/2007 reform on pharmaceuticals.

Main points

Main objectives

The objective of the proposals is to decrease smoking and use of snus, especially among young people. 

Type of incentives

Legislative restrictions

Groups affected

Person using tobacco products, tobacco companies, tobacco retailers

Degree of Innovation	traditional		innovative
Degree of Controversy	consensual		highly controversial
Structural or Systemic Impact	marginal		fundamental
Public Visibility	very low		very high
Transferability	strongly system-dependent		system-neutral

Limiting smoking and harms related to that is generally rather well accepted among to the various stakeholders and the public. The most controversial proposal is the total ban of snus importation.

Political and economic background

The first tobacco law came into force in 1977 and initially forbid advertising tobacco products. Gradually legislation has become more and more strict. During this decade the most significant change in tobacco law has been to limit smoking in pubs and restaurants (see HPM 8/2006).

The current law bans tobacco advertising, sale of tobacco products from shops to under 18-year-olds and smoking in indoor public places. The current law also bans smoking in pubs and restaurants, except in specific closed and ventilated rooms where it is not allowed to serve or consume food and drinks. There are also high taxes on tobacco products. Although the sale of snus has been illegal in Finland from 1995 (when Finland joined to European Union), about 5% of Finnish men use snus regularly. Snus is privately imported from Sweden which has special exemption from EU regulation to sell snus.

In various health policy documents concerns have repeatedly been voiced about the negative health effects of smoking. For example one of the targets of the National Development Programme for Social Welfare and Health Care (2008-2011) is to decrease the proportion of 16-18-year-old smokers from 22% to 17% (HPM 11/2008). The Government Resolution on the Health 2015 public health programme (from the year 2001) also called upon actions to reduce smoking. Smoking is stated to partly explain health differences between socio-economic groups, which is considered to be a major health policy concern in Finland (HPM 12/2008). It is estimated that smoking induces annually about 5000 premature deaths in Finland.

The reform is based on the current Government Programme (HPM 10/2007) which states that tobacco legislation will be amended by restricting the availability of tobacco products, intensifying supervision and taking preventive measures targeting children and young people in particular. Finland has ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which came into force in February 2005. This convention has had an important role in the process of drafting the proposals made by the working group.

Complies with

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Change based on an overall national health policy statement

The National Development Programme for Social Welfare and Health Care

Purpose and process analysis

Current Process Stages

	Idea	Pilot	Policy Paper	Legislation	Implementation	Evaluation	Change
Implemented in this survey?

Origins of health policy idea

The proposals were made by the working group which included representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Finance, the National Product Control Agency, the Pulmonary Association Heli, the Cancer Society of Finland, the City of Helsinki, the National Public Health Institute, The Finnish Grocery Trade Association and the Finnish Hotel and Restaurant Association. The proposals stem for example from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and previous national health policy documents. These proposals can be seen as a part of a long process to reduce smoking in the Finnish population using various measures.

Initiators of idea/main actors

• Government

• Civil Society

• Private Sector or Industry

• Political Parties

Approach of idea

The approach of the idea is described as:
amended: existing tobacco legislation

Stakeholder positions

The Finnish Grocery Trade Association and the Finnish Hotel and Restaurant Association did not accept all the proposals made by the working group. They for example opposed the proposal to ban brand names and logos from retail outlets. The Finnish Grocery Trade Association also opposed the proposal to ban snus importation and perceived the proposed punishments for violations of tobacco sale regulations as too severe.

The proposals of the working group generally are rather consensual and accepted by the majority of stakeholders. The main theme in public discussion was the ban of personal importation of snus. The Swedish People´s Party (one of the parties forming current the government) has opposed restrictions on snus importation. Use of snus is estimated to be more common among the Swedish speaking minority. 

Actors and positions

Government
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health	very supportive		strongly opposed
The Government	very supportive		strongly opposed
Civil Society
Public	very supportive		strongly opposed
Pulmonary Association Heli	very supportive		strongly opposed
Cancer Society of Finland	very supportive		strongly opposed
Private Sector or Industry
Tobacco retailers	very supportive		strongly opposed
Political Parties
The Swedish People´s Party	very supportive		strongly opposed
Other political parties	very supportive		strongly opposed

Influences in policy making and legislation

Currently the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing a bill based on the report of the working group. For the preparation process the ministry has requested statements on the proposals from a wide variety of stakeholders. The bill is planned to be passed to parliament in spring 2009.

In March 2009 the government announced what measures will be included in the bill. Several of the restrictions which were proposed by the working group were diluted. In the new version:

• the smoking ban in public places is not extended to hospitals and health centres and their outdoor areas;
• importation of snus for personal use is limited to 30 boxes;
• possession of tobacco products by 18-year-olds will not be banned;
• sale violation would have maximum punishment of six months;
• importation and sale of products imitating tobacco products (such has candies looking like cigarettes) will not be banned.

Legislative outcome

pending

Actors and influence

Government
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health	very strong		none
The Government	very strong		none
Civil Society
Public	very strong		none
Pulmonary Association Heli	very strong		none
Cancer Society of Finland	very strong		none
Private Sector or Industry
Tobacco retailers	very strong		none
Political Parties
The Swedish People´s Party	very strong		none
Other political parties	very strong		none

Positions and Influences at a glance

Adoption and implementation

Main actors in the implementation process would be tobacco retailers, customs and the public. Tobacco retailers must change the placement of tobacco products so that they are not visible in stores. They also have to supervise much more closely that they won't sell these products to under 18-year-olds. The public has to adopt the new restrictions and probably an extensive information campaign is needed for achieving that.

Monitoring and evaluation

Mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation are not defined at this stage. The National Institute for Health and Welfare conducts regular surveys on the use of tobacco products.

Expected outcome

At this stage it is difficult to estimate what effect the changes would have to the use of tobacco products. Certainly it would be more difficult to under 18-year-olds to have access to tobacco products. Also access to snus would be more difficult. Undesirable consequence would be the growth of illegal activities related to this.

Impact of this policy

Quality of Health Care Services	marginal		fundamental
Level of Equity	system less equitable		system more equitable
Cost Efficiency	very low		very high

This reform would not have impact to healthcare services.

References

Reform formerly reported in

Ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants Process Stages: Implementation

Author/s and/or contributors to this survey

Vuorenkoski, Lauri

Suggested citation for this online article

Vuorenkoski, Lauri. "Proposal to tighten tobacco legislation". Health Policy Monitor, April 2009. Available at http://www.hpm.org/survey/fi/a13/2