Supervision of Tobacco Affairs
Within its competence, SARA comprehensively regulates, controls, and supervises the retail system of tobacco products. The Authority also acts as a national ID-issuer in the EU tobacco traceability system.
Before the introduction of the tobacco concession system in 2013, there were nearly 43,000 retail outlets with limited state control. In contrast, today there are fewer than 6,000 National Tobacco Shops, which operate in a closed, controlled, and transparent system. Prior to the reform, a significant portion of tobacco revenues was generated by multinational companies rather than small Hungarian businesses.
Since the establishment of the concession system, the retail sale of tobacco products falls under the exclusive competence of the State, which grants fixed-term concessions through concession contracts. In addition to ensuring transparency and traceability, the current concession system allows revenues to be used within the country’s borders, ensuring a livelihood for as many Hungarian families as possible through domestic producers and businesses. The system provides a favourable business environment for large foreign companies as well.
The Hungarian distribution network is a closed chain that can be fully traced from production to retail distribution and is standardised along strict regulations, which is also facilitated by the centralisation of the ordering and supply of goods. SARA also supervises the operation of the wholesale system to ensure the continuous and smooth supply of the tobacco retail system.
The supervisory activities extend beyond the legal market, with SARA taking strong action against illegal tobacco trade as well. In addition to fines, its toolkit has been expanded to include the disabling of electronic data and the complete blocking of online shops, a new area of illicit tobacco trade popular with young people. The latter is carried out by SARA in cooperation with the National Media and Infocommunications Authority.
Illicit tobacco products endangering young people
Illegal, nicotine-containing flavoured disposable electronic cigarettes became widely known in 2022 under the name Elf Bar. The product is sold under a variety of different names through illegal channels. They are becoming increasingly popular due to their ease of use, compact size, variety of flavours and trendy appearance. However, their uncontrolled composition and high nicotine content make them a significant danger to young people.
SARA set up an e-mail address () and a telephone hotline (1828) for citizens to report the sale of illegal Elf Bar-type products and acquire information on the Elf Bar phenomenon. SARA examines all hotline reports and, if they contain the information necessary to uncover illegal trading activities, forwards them to the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) for further inspection.
Curbing smoking, prevention
Placing special emphasis on prevention and health protection, SARA makes substantial efforts to discourage smoking and help smokers quit. In addition to raising awareness of the health risks of smoking, it aims to change social acceptance of, and attitudes towards, smoking.
In 2013, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received a WHO award for effective fight against smoking, in recognition of the Hungarian Government’s anti-smoking initiatives.
While maintaining the successes achieved, there is still much to be done to reduce under-age smoking, improve the overall health of the Hungarian people, and enhance the social utilization of revenues from the retail of tobacco products.