Animal experiments remain permitted
Swiss vote against tobacco advertising
02/13/2022, 9:05 p.m
Unlike in Germany, cigarette advertising, for example on billboards, is still permitted in Switzerland. The Swiss decide that this should change – and thus hand the government a defeat. The pharmaceutical industry, on the other hand, should be relieved about the outcome of a second referendum.
The Swiss have spoken out in favor of a far-reaching ban on tobacco advertising. Almost 57 percent of voters and a majority in 16 of the 26 cantons voted in favor of the popular initiative “Children and young people without tobacco advertising”. A second initiative for a ban on animal experiments and clinical tests with human subjects, however, was rejected by almost 80 percent. A proposal for more public funding for the media did not find a majority either.
“We are extremely satisfied,” said Stefanie de Borba from the Swiss Cancer League with a view to the tobacco referendum. “People have understood that health is more important than economic interests.”
The Swiss were able to decide on a number of questions.
(Photo: picture alliance/KEYSTONE)
In Switzerland, unlike in most other industrialized countries, tobacco advertising has so far been permitted except on television and radio. Critics attribute this to the fact that some of the largest tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International (PMI), British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco are based in Switzerland. PMI had co-financed the campaign against the popular initiative.
The popular initiative now demands that advertising for tobacco products be banned wherever it is visible to children and young people – for example on posters, in cinemas or on the Internet. Tobacco advertising is only permitted if it is aimed at adults, for example by e-mail. PMI called on politicians to use “a sense of proportion” when implementing the results of the referendum.
“Soon we will also talk about alcohol and meat”
In addition to the tobacco industry, the government and a majority in the Swiss parliament also rejected the initiative. “Today we are talking about cigarettes, but soon we will also be talking about alcohol and meat,” warned Liberal Party leader Philippe Bauer. He didn’t want to live in a “dictatorship of political correctness” in which “everything has to be regulated,” he told Swiss radio.
Tobacco advertising is already partially banned in Germany. According to a law passed in 2020, outdoor advertising for conventional tobacco products such as cigarettes has been taboo since the beginning of this year. The ban should take effect for tobacco heaters at the beginning of 2023, for e-cigarettes at the beginning of 2024 – with the exception of directly on walls or shop windows of specialist shops. Tobacco advertising is already prohibited, for example, on radio and television, in newspapers and magazines, in cinemas for films for under-18s or in the form of free samples at festivals.
Large majority wants to keep animal experiments
In contrast, only a good 20 percent of voters voted for the popular initiative “Yes to the ban on animal and human testing”. The rejection was even clearer than in three similar initiatives that had failed since 1985. Representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and scientists had warned that without animal testing, little progress in the detection and treatment of diseases would be possible.
Switzerland – especially Basel – is also an important location for the pharmaceutical industry. The Roche and Novartis groups, for example, are among the world’s leading drug manufacturers.
In recent years, the use of animal experiments in Switzerland has declined significantly. After almost two million test animals per year in the 1980s, according to the Swiss federal authorities, there are now around 560,000 per year. Serious interventions such as the implantation of a tumor are carried out on around 20,000 of these animals.
In another referendum, the Swiss also voted against a package of measures to promote the media, which provided for additional state support measures in view of falling advertising revenues. Parliament had already passed this, but right-wing parties criticized it as a waste of public funds because large press groups would also benefit from it, and initiated a referendum. Almost 55 percent of the voters now apparently saw it the same way.