France to Ban Smoking at Public Parks & Beaches, Eyes Plain Packaging for All Tobacco Products

France’s Ministry of Health has announced that it will implement a nationwide smoking ban at public parks, beaches and forests as part of a wide-ranging plan to reduce smoking in the country.

In addition to the smoking ban, the country also plans to ban single-use vaping products, increasing the minimum price of a pack of cigarettes to 12 euros in 2025 and 13 euros in 2027, and expanding plain packaging requirements to include all tobacco and vaping products.

Aurélien Rousseau, the Minister of Health and Prevention, unveiled the plan on Tuesday. Rousseau says the government aims to create a tobacco-free generation by 2032.

Many local governments have already banned smoking in public parks and beaches, but the country does not have a federal ban against smoking in these places. France banned smoking inside cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, casinos and hotels in 2008.

Fines for the smoking ban will be unveiled next year.

For cigar smokers, the plain packaging component could be jarring. If France applies the same sort of packaging rules for cigars as it already has for cigarettes, it would mean that cigars would be sold in neutral color packaging with large health warnings replacing labels. Consumers would be able to identify what cigar they are smoking by small text printed on the packaging, both box and band.

While still relatively novel, especially for cigars, countries like Ireland and Australia have implemented plain packaging that extends to cigars.

Plain packaging would be the latest in increasingly aggressive cigar restrictions from the French government. In 2017, France tried banning certain cigar names that used food and other terms—Café Crème, a popular little cigar was amongst the brands targeted—but that plan was overruled by a court. Coinciding with that move, France introduced plain packaging for cigarettes.

The plain packaging, high taxes, France’s geography and other factors have led to a thriving market for illegal cigarettes. In 2021, KPMG estimated that 35 percent of cigarettes sold in France were purchased illegally.