Why are warning labels on cigarettes in Switzerland now yellow?

All tobacco products in Switzerland are now required to display a yellow health warning label, as a result of a new law that came into effect on October 1, 2024. Here’s what’s behind the change:

Cigarette packets in Switzerland now display yellow health warning labels

Anyone who smokes in Switzerland may start to see shelves lined with bright yellow health warning labels on tobacco products like cigarettes, snus, rolling tobacco and heated tobacco sticks. The new warning label replaces the previous white and black label displayed on tobacco products.

The change in packaging is due to the federal Tobacco Products Act, which came into effect on October 1, 2024, and had to be implemented by October 1, 2025. The law outlined further restrictions on the sale, advertising, and use of tobacco in Switzerland.

The act requires all tobacco products to display a more noticeable label - hence the colour yellow - and make the health risks associated with tobacco products “unmistakable”, reports 20 Minuten. The Tobacco Products Act also required labels to be changed to align with texts used in the EU. 

Only 30 percent of cigarette packets use the new label 

The Swiss Tobacco Prevention Working Group has criticised the implementation of the new warning labels. Less than a third of cigarette packs in Switzerland displayed the yellow warning label at the end of September, reports 20 Minuten. 

However, as the law had a year to be implemented, more packaging with yellow warning labels is expected to be sold in the coming months, as companies finish selling stock with the old labels.

The Tobacco Products Act will see further revisions in 2027 to reduce advertising tobacco products to children and young adults. The Swiss parliament is also in the process of implementing a nationwide ban on the sale of disposable e-cigarettes (vapes). While laws are being drawn up, cantons are implementing their own e-cigarette bans, most recently in Geneva.