French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Since the entry into force of the Évin Law , sponsorship operations - and patronage operations  since the adoption of the Law of 26 January on the modernization of the French health system  - are prohibited when they have the object or effect of propagating or advertising, directly or indirectly, tobacco or tobacco products (Public Health Code, Article L. 3512-4, formerly L. 3511-3) . The same app …

Tobacco or vaping products

Since the entry into force of the Évin Law , sponsorship operations - and patronage operations  since the adoption of the Law of 26 January on the modernization of the French health system  - are prohibited when they have the object or effect of propagating or advertising, directly or indirectly, tobacco or tobacco products (Public Health Code, Article L. 3512-4, formerly L. 3511-3) . The same applies, pursuant to new Article L. 3513-4, 3°, 2nd paragraph, to sponsorship or patronage operations for the purpose of the advertising, whether direct or indirect, of vaping products - now prohibited by the first paragraph of that same provision. Article L. 3515-3 (former Article L. 3512-2) provides that offenses under this provision are subject to a fine of EUR 100 000. 

Under Article L. 3512-5 (formerly L. 3511-4), “any propaganda or advertising of a body, a service, an activity, a product or an article other than tobacco, a tobacco product or an ingredient, as defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3512-2 (formerly L. 3511-1) is considered to be indirect propaganda or advertising when, by its graphics, its presentation, the use of a trade mark, advertising emblem or other distinctive sign, it is reminiscent of tobacco, a tobacco product or an ingredient, as defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3512-2.  As in the case for the advertising of alcoholic beverages, "those provisions do not, however, apply to the propagation or advertising of a product other than tobacco, a tobacco product or an ingredient, as defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3512-2 put on the market before 1 January 1990 by a company legally and financially separate from any company which manufactures, imports or sells tobacco, a tobacco product or an ingredient defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3512-2. The creation of any legal or financial link between those undertakings renders this derogation null and void” . According to the case law, the organizing of a sponsorship operation therefore constitutes an offense when documents containing images of packs of cigarettes are presented at the event  or when the creation of a foundation for the cinema is integrated into in a policy of sponsorship and promotional advertising, intended to give a new image to a brand of cigarettes . 

Before the entry into force of the Évin Law, the sponsorship of sporting events by producers, manufacturers and traders of tobacco or of tobacco products was prohibited except in the case of motor sports events, a list of which was laid down by ministerial decree . Under the current regulations, Article L. 3512-4 (former L. 3511-4) of the Public Health Code prohibits tobacco brands represented on racing cars from being shown during the television broadcasts of races in France . On the other hand, if the rally takes place in a country where tobacco advertising is authorized, TV retransmissions showing tobacco manufacturers' trade marks on the competing vehicle cars remain lawful in application of Article L. 3512-6 (former L. 3511-5) of the Public Health Code as amended by Law No 1993-121 of 27 January 1993 . The sponsorship by an undertaking of tobacco products at a tennis tournament taking place in Switzerland, which is not prohibited under Swiss law, may not be declared illegal under French law when there is no direct causal link between the conclusion of the sponsorship agreement and the broadcasting of the tournament in France making both the organizer of the tournament and the sponsor liable for complicity in the offense of unlawful tobacco advertising . The courts have narrowly interpreted the exception laid down in Article L. 3512-6 of the Public Health Code and consider that the derogation from the prohibition of indirect advertising for tobacco from which TV channels are able to benefit, may not be extended to other media, such as the written press  or the internet. The European Court of Human Rights considers that the exception to the prohibition of indirect advertising for tobacco as laid down in Article L. 3512-6 of the Public Health Code exclusively aimed at audiovisual media constitutes a justified difference of treatment where the technical means do not, at the present time, make it possible to conceal emblems, logos or advertisements on the images retransmitted in the audiovisual media whereas it is possible not to photograph such images, to conceal them or to pixelate them in the pages of magazines . Furthermore, according to the ECHR , the notion of “retransmission of mechanical sports competitions” only concerns live broadcasts or situations which are virtually real-time, which excludes, in addition to repeats, television news reports, interviews, TV credits or trailers in which tobacco brands may appear . 

Directive No 2003/33 of 26 May 2003 , on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products defines the sponsorship of events as “any form of public or private contribution to any event, activity or individual with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting a tobacco product”. Adopted after the annulment by the Court of Justice of Directive No 98/43 , it only applies to the press and other printed media, radio broadcasts, and information society services, with the exception of television which comes within the scope of Directive No 2010/13 of 10 March 2010 . Directive No 2003/33 prohibits the sponsorship of radio programs, cross-border events or activities having the purpose or the effect of promoting tobacco products, without regulating sponsorship on a purely national level. Similarly, the free distribution of tobacco products is prohibited in the context of the sponsorship of such events.

Law No 91-32 of 10 January 1991, OJ of 12 January 1991.

As there is no reference in the legislation to patronage relating to the propaganda or advertisement of tobacco, it is for the courts to lay down the applicable rules. According to the Court of Cassation, the mere public use of a brand of cigarettes in a patronage operation, regardless of its scientific or artistic purpose, constituted tobacco advertising. The Court of Cassation has formally sanctioned a patronage operation organized by a tobacco company, including in favor of products other than tobacco, but bearing the name of a tobacco brand, see Cass. crim., 29 June 1999, LawLex200300003132JBJ, overruling CA Paris, 12 February 1998, LawLex200300003130JBJ.

Cass. crim., 24 February 2015, LawLex201500001073JBJ.

Cass. crim., 4 May 2004, LawLex200400002301JBJ holding that the legislation which introduces a difference in treatment between the written press and television channels, only authorized to retransmit mechanical sports competitions taking place in countries where tobacco advertising is authorized, is an objective distinction and is proportionate to the legitimate objectives of the preservation of public health.

ECHR, 5 March 2009, LawLex200900001155JBJ.

ECHR, 5 March 2009, LawLex200900001155JBJ, cited above.

Cass. crim., 14 May 2008, LawLex200800000963JBJ. 

Case C-376/98 Germany v European Parliament, Judgment of 5 October 2000, LawLex200700001637JBJ.

Directive No 2010/13 prohibits sponsorship by undertakings whose activity is the manufacture or sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products (Article 10(2)).

Ordinance No 2016-623 of 19 May 2016 transposing Directive 2014/40 concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products (OJ No 116 of 20 May 2016) recodified Articles L. 3511-1 et seq. of the Public Health Code in Articles L. 3512-4 et seq.

See in particular Cass. crim., 29 June 1999, LawLex200300003437JBJ, an advertising poster designed to promote the watches of the brand "Camel Trophy": the Court dismissed the application of the derogation provided for in Article [L. 3512-4], paragraph 2, where there is a legal and financial link between the advertiser who manufactures and markets the watches, and the cigarette manufacturer.

Cass. crim., 14 October 1998, LawLex200300001710JBJ upholding CA Paris, 4 June 1997, LawLex200300001736JBJ: event in which documents containing images of packs of cigarettes were distributed to journalists.

Cass. crim., 7 February 1984, LawLex200300003424JBJ, upholding CA Paris, 16 December 1981, LawLex200300004129JBJ.

See former Article 10, Law 76-616 of 9 July 1976, relative to the anti-smoking campaign, repealed by the Loi Évin: "producers, manufacturers and traders of tobacco or of tobacco products must not give their patronage to sports events; the organizers of such events must not accept such patronage. It is forbidden to display, in any form whatsoever, on the occasion of or during a sporting event, the name, the trade mark or the advertising emblem of a tobacco product or tobacco. The provisions of this article are not applicable to sports events reserved for motor vehicles, the list of which will be established by ministerial decree. This decree will determine the conditions in which patronage, the participation and the mention of names, trade marks or emblems are allowed at events".

Cass. crim., 11 April 1996, LawLex200300001706JBJ, upholding CA Paris, 6 February 1995, LawLex200300001732JBJ.

"The retransmission of mechanical sports competitions taking place in countries where tobacco advertising is authorized, can be carried out by television channels." The Law of 27 January 1993 re-integrates an exception initially repealed by the Law of 10 January 1991, known as the Évin law. 

French Consumer Law

73. Tobacco or vaping products

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Les notions juridiques connexes

73. Tobacco or vaping products

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise