Poland

“Sponsorship” means:  the promotion in financial or physical form of the activities of natural persons, legal persons or organizational units without a legal personality related to the display of the names of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories and the entities producing such products, as well as their graphic symbols.

The definition of “sponsorship” in the law does not align with the definition of “tobacco sponsorship” in the FCTC. First, the definition only applies to “activities” and may not cover all types of events. Second, under the Act’s definition a financial contribution or other support is only “sponsorship” if it involves the display of the names of tobacco products or companies or their symbols/logos. Thus, tobacco industry financial contributions that do not require display of tobacco company or product logos are not considered “sponsorship” under this definition and therefore escape the ban on sponsorship.

To align with FCTC Art. 13 and the FCTC Art. 13 Guidelines, the law should contain a definition of “tobacco sponsorship” in accordance with the definition provided in FCTC Art. 1.

“Advertising of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories” means:

a. the dissemination of messages, brand images of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers, tobacco accessories or the symbols related to them;

b. the dissemination of the names or graphic symbols of entities producing tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories which do not differ from the names and graphic symbols of the tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers, tobacco accessories or symbols associated with them;

-- promoting the brands of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories, excluding information used for commercial purposes in relations between entities engaged in the production, distribution and trade of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories.

“The promotion of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories” means:

a. the public distribution of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories;

b. the organization of tastings of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes or refill containers;

c. the organization of the premium sale of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories or competitions based on their purchase and other forms of public encouragement to purchase or use them, regardless of the form in which they reach the consumer; and

d. offering tobacco products to consumers as a discount from the price printed on the unit single package.

The law contains a definition of “advertising of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories” and a definition of “promotion of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, refill containers or tobacco accessories.”  The definition of “advertising” of tobacco and related products covers traditional advertising. The definition of “promotion” of tobacco and related products lists types of promotional activities and, therefore, may inadvertently fail to cover all tobacco promotion activities. However, taken together, the definitions in the law capture the intent of the definition of “tobacco advertising and promotion” in the FCTC and enable a comprehensive ban.

The law aligns with FCTC Art. 13 and the FCTC Art. 13 Guidelines. However, to ensure that the ban on tobacco advertising and promotion is broad in scope, the drafters of the law may wish to consider providing a definition of “tobacco advertising and promotion” in accordance with the definition provided in FCTC Art. 1.

“Tobacco product” means a product intended for consumer consumption, consisting, even in part, of tobacco, including genetically modified tobacco.

The definition of "tobacco product" contained in the law aligns with the definition provided in FCTC Art. 1(f).