{"id":23728,"date":"2025-04-02T08:59:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T08:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=23728"},"modified":"2025-04-02T08:59:45","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T08:59:45","slug":"luxembourg-criticised-for-proposing-de-facto-ban-on-nicotine-pouches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/luxembourg-criticised-for-proposing-de-facto-ban-on-nicotine-pouches\/","title":{"rendered":"Luxembourg criticised for proposing de facto ban on nicotine pouches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Luxembourg has been widely criticised for its proposed \u2018de facto\u2019 ban on nicotine pouches.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European Commission, Greece and Sweden have all raised several objections to the draft Bill, which limits the strength of nicotine pouches to a very low 0.048g and imposes communication and labelling restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bill also aims to ban sales of tobacco heated products (THP) with \u201ccharacterising flavours\u201d and introduce compulsory health warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece has warned the Commission<\/a> that the Bill \u201csets disproportionate maximum nicotine levels for nicotine pouches and novel nicotine products\u201d which \u201chinders the functioning of the internal market\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden has also objected<\/a>, saying the proposed nicotine limit was \u201ceffectively excluding all relevant products on the market\u201d and asked why \u201cother, less restrictive measures, could not be sufficient and proportionate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicotine pouches to be treated like tobacco<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Luxembourg\u2019s draft law aims to put nicotine pouches on a regulatory par with tobacco products. The notification of the Bill says: \u201c..the aim of the notified draft is to regulate the manufacture and marketing of nicotine pouches as these products, like tobacco products, may have adverse health effects and should be treated in the same way from a legal perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThus, the draft law proposes to establish a similar regime for nicotine pouches as that for tobacco products, making them subject to the same restrictions and obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European Commission noted<\/a> the draft Bill would introduce graphic health warnings for nicotine pouches, saying that \u201cwhile several provisions [of the Tobacco Products Directive] apply to tobacco products in general, certain provisions [including those on graphic health warnings] only apply to tobacco products for smoking\u2026 [Luxembourg] must ensure this difference is respected.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Period for comment extended<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018standstill period,\u2019 during which the Commission and Member States may comment on the Bill, has been extended from 10 March to 10 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Luxembourg said that rather than targeting disposable vapes, it would aim to ban certain flavours and limit nicotine content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government said it agreed with the intention behind the disposable vape bans \u2013 to reduce youth vaping and protect the environment \u2013 but believed the method would not have the intended outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a health point of view, these products contain high doses of nicotine, encouraging rapid dependence, particularly among young people, and potentially leading them to other forms of tobacco consumption,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cnegative effects on brain development,\u201d it added, specifically affect teenagers by impairing their memory and concentration, which can \u201cinterfere with their learning\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, it called for a \u201cglobal approach\u201d to include regulations on all types of vapes as a \u201cmore coherent\u201d way to address these issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

France bans pouches<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, France banned nicotine pouches<\/a> last month, citing concerns<\/a> over their appeal to young people and similarities to snus, such as \u201cthe possibility of discreet and invisible use\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health Minister Genevi\u00e8ve Darrieussecq described nicotine pouches as “dangerous” because they contain high doses of nicotine and are often marketed towards young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luxembourg has been widely criticised for its proposed \u2018de facto\u2019 ban on nicotine pouches. The European Commission, Greece and Sweden have all raised several objections to the draft Bill, which limits the strength of nicotine pouches to a very low 0.048g and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990005,"featured_media":23729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257,258],"tags":[327,334,186,333],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-23728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-legislation","tag-france","tag-global","tag-nicotine","tag-sweden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23735,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23728\/revisions\/23735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23728"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=23728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}