Sweden’s health minister has attacked France’s ban on nicotine pouches as “idiotic”, escalating a row over Europe’s treatment of smoke-free nicotine products.
Elisabeth Lann, Sweden’s minister of health, criticised the French ban during an interview on the Swedish health and lifestyle podcast Hälsa för ohälsosamma.
The comments shift Sweden’s criticism of France’s policy from a trade dispute into a wider argument over public health and harm reduction.
“Purely from a health perspective, I think it’s idiotic that they allow smoking and have such incredibly big problems with smoking, and then they target nicotine pouches,” Lann said. “That’s really straining at gnats and swallowing camels.”
France’s ban came into force on 1 April 2026 and covers oral nicotine products including pouches, beads, liquids, chewing gum, lozenges and strips.
The decree goes further than simple sales restrictions. It also covers production, transport, import, export, possession, acquisition, distribution and use on French territory.
That means a Swedish visitor carrying nicotine pouches legally bought at home could face criminal penalties in France, while cigarettes remain legally available.
Harm reduction, not moralism
Lann said she supported harm reduction in nicotine policy, describing it as “the only reasonable approach”.
Her comments cut to the centre of a growing European divide over nicotine regulation. Some governments have moved to ban or heavily restrict nicotine pouches, citing youth use, flavours, addiction and poison centre reports.
Supporters of harm reduction argue that such policies risk treating all nicotine products as if they carry the same risk, despite the far greater harms linked to smoking.
Lann said refusing to distinguish between products risked turning public health policy into moralism rather than risk-based regulation.
She also criticised what she saw as exaggerated claims in the debate. According to Snusforumet’s report of the interview, she said some critics talk about youth pouch use as though it leads directly to death or criminality, while some industry voices go too far in presenting themselves as public health saviours.
“We know that smoking is incredibly more dangerous than using snus,” Lann said.
Sweden has one of the lowest smoking rates in Europe. Daily smoking is now below five per cent, a level Swedish politicians and harm reduction advocates frequently link to the availability of oral nicotine products such as snus.
Nicotine pouches differ from snus because they do not contain tobacco, but both are used orally and without combustion.
France ban has already angered Sweden
Lann’s comments follow earlier criticism from Swedish trade minister Benjamin Dousa, who accused France of attacking Swedish culture and breaching the spirit of the EU single market.
“It is as if we would prohibit French baguettes or French wine in Sweden,” Dousa told the Financial Times. “It is absurd.”
The French rules have caused concern in Sweden because they target not only commercial supply, but also possession and use.
Under the decree, a person carrying nicotine pouches in France could face penalties reportedly reaching up to five years in prison and a €375,000 fine, depending on the offence.
Sweden is among seven countries to raise formal concerns over whether the French ban creates unjustified barriers within the EU single market.
Europe split over pouches
Nicotine pouches are not currently regulated under the EU tobacco control framework in the same way as cigarettes, vapes or snus.
That has left member states taking different approaches. Belgium and the Netherlands have banned sales, while countries including Finland have opted for tighter regulation.
France has gone further by targeting the wider chain of production, transport, import, possession and use.
French authorities say the measure is needed to protect public health, particularly young people. In its notification to the European Commission, France cited concerns over nicotine addiction, youth appeal, flavours, marketing and reports to poison control centres.
The French government also said nicotine pouches were not regulated at EU level and that it wanted to act “without waiting for the possible revision of the European directives”.
Bigger fight over nicotine policy
The dispute comes as Brussels reviews the Tobacco Products Directive, which has applied since 2016 and sets EU rules for tobacco and related products.
The European Commission has already acknowledged that member states are taking different approaches to nicotine pouches, ranging from complete bans to nicotine limits, labelling rules, advertising restrictions and age controls.
For Sweden, the issue is politically sensitive. When it joined the EU in 1995, it secured an exemption allowing snus to remain legal in Sweden despite the bloc’s wider ban on its sale.
That exemption does not automatically apply to tobacco-free nicotine pouches. But Sweden’s low smoking rate has made the country central to Europe’s debate over whether public health policy should focus on nicotine use itself or the relative risks of different products.
