For the first time in Greece but also in Europe, the Ministry of Digital Governance is implementing, following the Health Ministry’s law and with the assistance of the Ministry of Citizen Protection, a comprehensive, digital age verification framework that aims to effectively protect minors and improve public health.
This innovative European implementation, presented by the European Commission in the summer, prevents minors from accessing tobacco, nicotine (including vaping) and alcohol products and is designed to be very simple to use – no special digital skills are required from buyers or sellers.
The technological solution comes as a continuation and complement to the recent public health law, strengthening its implementation through digital tools.
The main objective of the institutional framework is to protect young people and prevent the use of tobacco, nicotine and alcohol products at a young age, through five axes of action: prevention and protection measures for minors, stricter market supervision, special regulation for new nicotine products, creation of a digital control register and strengthening of control mechanisms and sanctions.
In this context, a clear and universal prohibition of the sale, offer and distribution of the relevant products to minors is established for the first time, with the responsibility for age verification being explicitly assigned to the seller. If the buyer does not provide proof of age, the transaction is prohibited.
The innovation of the program lies in the introduction of a digital age verification system: identification of adulthood will be done through the Gov.gr Wallet and Kids Wallet applications.
Source: ANA – MPA