How Greece is using digital tools to enforce its alcohol and tobacco sales bans for minors

The Greek government introduced three new digital tools on Monday that aim to make bans on tobacco and alcohol sales to children more effective.

Last July, the Greek government passed legislation to restrict young people's smoking and alcohol intake. It required shops to check the age of tobacco and alcohol buyers, with very severe penalties for offenders.

"The time has come to use all the tools we have at our disposal, so as to give the control mechanisms and the Greek Police the ability to implement this law," said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Under the new law, businesses that sell or offer alcohol or tobacco to minors can be fined from €500 to €10,000. Violators can also lose their business licences – temporarily for a first offense, and permanently for repeat offenders.

People can also face fines and up to three years of jail time if they sell tobacco or alcohol to minors, use children to sell tobacco, sell alcohol through vending machines, or employ or allow children to spend time in bars or similar venues.

The law also comes with restrictions on the advertising on tobacco products, such as cigarettes and vapes. Those who violate these rules can also be fined €500 to €10,000.

Now, the three new tools are becoming available to help implement the law.

The first application is an online register where businesses hosting private events involving minors will be required announce them in advance. The registration will include the date and type of event, for example whether it is a prom or graduation celebration.

The second tool is another register for the control of tobacco and alcohol products. Every shop that sells tobacco or alcoholic beverages will have to declare the types of products it sells, for example cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

This will give authorities a map of all tobacco and alcohol retailers nationwide, making it easy for inspectors to conduct checks given they will know which products each shop has declared.

The third application is a secure mechanism to verify the age of a customer who wants to buy tobacco products or alcoholic beverages from any brick-and-mortar retail outlet.

The tool is based on the verification system already designed for the KidsWallet application, and promises complete security for the users' data.

In e-commerce, the same check will be automatically applied. A QR code will be displayed on the seller's website, and the buyer will scan it with their mobile phones.

"Technology now enables us to make this verification very easy," Mitsotakis said. "I would like to point out that Greece is at the forefront of Europe when it comes to digital verification of the age of Greek citizens."

He added that the age-verification technology "will be extremely useful for any decisions we take regarding the access of minors and social media".

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