Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – The French government has approved raising the age for sales of alcohol and tobacco from 16 to 18 as part of a package of health measures. New regulations will ironically allow, for the first time, advertising for alcoholic beverages on the Internet, as a result of negotiations with the wine industry.

Alcohol ads are banned in France but the law dates back to pre-Internet days, leaving a loophole.

The wine lobby also successfully opposed a proposal from the health minister to ban sales of all alcohol in service stations, pointing out that in urban areas it is possible to buy alcohol 24 hours a day but in the countryside service stations are often the only places open that sell wine.

Related: Le Monde story, Fre