Smart card aims to curb tobacco use

A smart card that contains personal details such as date of birth and will have to be used for buying cigarettes from vending machines is expected to curb under-age smoking in Japan.

The health, labour and welfare ministry predicts the card, which was developed in conjunction with the cigarette industry, will be effective because its studies show that 70 to 80 per cent of under-age smokers obtain their cigarettes from vending machines.

The card, called taspo – a combination of the words tobacco, access and passport – has been piloted since March in Kagoshima and Miyazaki. It will be introduced in the rest of Kyushu and Hokkaido in May, and in central Japan and the Kansai region in June. The ministry estimates that by July the system will cover the whole of Japan and will be used in nearly all the country’s 520,000 cigarette machines.

The cards will not be required for over-the-counter sales in convenience stores or supermarkets, though attendants are supposed to check customers suspected of being under age. Critics say teenagers could steal parents’ cards or borrow them from legitimate card holders.