Türkiye is preparing to introduce a QR code-based age verification system for cigarette purchases, allowing retailers to confirm that customers are at least 18 without accessing their personal information, as authorities seek to restrict minors’ access to tobacco products.
The Health Ministry and the ruling Justice and Development Party’s parliamentary group are working on draft legislation that would introduce electronic identity verification at tobacco sales points, modeled on similar practices in Japan and South Korea, according to reports in local media.
Under the proposed system, customers would present a QR code generated by the relevant public authority and scanned using their phones. The system would cross-check the code against the buyer’s Turkish identification number to determine whether they have reached the legal age for purchasing tobacco.
The planned approach aims to address privacy concerns by allowing sellers to verify a customer’s eligibility without accessing their name, exact age or other personal details. Authorities are considering applying the system to physical outlets, including supermarkets, grocery stores and kiosks, as well as online tobacco sales.
The draft legislation cites findings from Türkiye’s 2017 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, which found that 73.3 percent of students aged 13 to 15 who smoked said they could easily purchase cigarettes from retail outlets, despite being under 18.
The proposed electronic verification system is intended to strengthen enforcement of the legal age limit and make it more difficult for minors to obtain tobacco products.
The draft also envisages using the electronic infrastructure to monitor not only buyers’ ages but also the quantities of tobacco products they can purchase daily, introducing an additional layer of oversight over retail sales.
Authorities aim to develop the system and put it into operation within one year, according to the report.
The Health Ministry is expected to establish the rules and procedures governing the electronic infrastructure after consulting the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.
The measures remain at the draft stage, and further details on how the system would operate in practice have yet to be finalized.
