Countries that have banned snus and nicotine pouches will be able to tax them when they’re brought into the country by consumers under a new proposal to be debated by the European Council today.
Member States would be allowed to charge excise duty on tobacco and nicotine products brought into their territory by private individuals for their own use, even where those same products are pbanned in that country.
The proposal emerged from a Cypriot compromise text dated 19 May and seen by Clearing the Air.
Under the proposal, Member States could ban the legal sale of a product domestically, deny consumers any lawful route to purchase it at home, and then still demand tax when those consumers obtain it legally in another Member State and bring it back for personal use.
In practical terms, Swedish tourists visiting Belgium, where snus and nicotine pouches are banned, could be taxed by Belgian customs officials at the airport if they were found to be carrying snus for their wn use, despite having already paid tax on it back home in Sweden.
The proposed text says that manufactured tobacco and tobacco-related products acquired by a private individual for personal use and transported from one Member State to another may, “where the placing on the market of such products is prohibited in the Member State of consumption,” also be charged in that Member State under national law.
Clearing the Air understands that the proposal stems from Finland, which has long been concerned about the movement of snus from Sweden. Consumers travel, buy the product, and bring it home.
The existing excise framework already distinguishes between commercial movement and products acquired by private individuals for their own use. Article 32 of Directive 2020/262 deals with goods bought by private individuals and transported by them from one Member State to another. The new compromise text also proposes updated guide levels and categories, including cigarettes, heated tobacco, e-cigarette liquids, nicotine pouches and other nicotine products.
The proposal sits awkwardly with the EU’s internal market principles. It would allow a Member State to reach beyond its own prohibition and impose a fiscal penalty on personal purchases made legally elsewhere.
The proposed provision reads as follows:
By way of derogation from paragraph 1, manufactured tobacco and tobacco related products which are acquired by a private individual for his or her own use , and transported from the territory of one Member State to the territory of another Member State by this private individual , may, where the placing on the market of such products is prohibited in the Member State of consumption, be also charged in the Member State of consumption in accordance with national law. “
