{"id":27272,"date":"2025-10-15T11:26:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=27272"},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:26:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:26:18","slug":"sweden-warns-france-and-spain-over-absurd-pouch-bans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/sweden-warns-france-and-spain-over-absurd-pouch-bans\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden warns France and Spain over \u2018absurd\u2019 pouch bans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Sweden has stepped up its opposition to proposed nicotine pouch bans in France and Spain, sending formal letters to both governments and calling the measures \u201cabsurd.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correspondence, signed by Swedish trade minister Benjamin Dousa and dated 24 September, urges Paris and Madrid to reconsider the restrictions, warning they risk breaching EU trade rules and penalising Swedish tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe are very worried,\u201d Dousa told Expressen<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s as absurd as if we banned French baguettes – their trade minister would be on the first flight to Stockholm.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The letters mark Sweden\u2019s latest effort to defend its harm reduction model, which credits nicotine pouches and other smoke-free products for driving smoking rates to the lowest level in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns over criminal penalties<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

France\u2019s proposed law, due to take effect on 1 April 2026, would ban the sale and possession of nicotine pouches, classifying them as \u201cvenomous substances\u201d under French health legislation. Anyone caught with the products could face fines of up to \u20ac375,000 and prison sentences of up to five years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain\u2019s draft law<\/a> would set a nicotine limit of 0.99 mg per pouch, a threshold that would effectively remove most products from the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its letters, Sweden said the French and Spanish proposals \u201cmay hinder all exports of the product\u201d and \u201cprohibit all production, manufacture, import, export and even possession.\u201d The government asked France to clarify how nicotine pouches from other EU countries could \u201ctransit through French territory without restriction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Sweden said it recognises the countries\u2019 public health concerns, the letters warned that the measures go \u201cfurther than necessary\u201d and urged \u201cless restrictive\u201d solutions in line with EU single-market principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier objections and Sweden\u2019s success story<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The move follows Sweden\u2019s earlier \u2018Detailed Opinion\u2019<\/a> submitted to the European Commission in June opposing France\u2019s draft decree, after it had already challenged Spain\u2019s legislation earlier in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France\u2019s proposed penalties are among the toughest in Europe, exceeding those for possession of illegal drugs such as heroin or cocaine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden argues that nicotine pouches have played a key role in its near smoke-free status<\/a>. The country\u2019s smoking rate has fallen below five per cent, compared with around 25 per cent in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Smoke Free Sweden, Swedish men have a 61 per cent lower lung cancer death rate than the European average, and overall cancer mortality is 34 per cent lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSweden must be applauded for standing up for its harm reduction model and defending the rights of adult consumers across Europe,\u201d said Dr Delon Human, leader of Smoke Free Sweden. \u201cTheir continued advocacy shows a commitment to public health through innovation, not prohibition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018You should be able to carry a can in your pocket\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a tourist in France, it should be obvious that you can bring your snus can without risking punishment,\u201d Dousa told Expressen. \u201cThe French law criminalises simply having a pouch in your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He told Svenska Magasinet that Sweden is open to regulation but believes the proposed bans \u201cgo too far,\u201d saying many people have stopped smoking through snus and pouch use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sweden\u2019s letters were sent under the EU\u2019s TRIS process, which allows member states to raise concerns about national laws that could impact the internal market. If unresolved, Sweden could refer the cases to the European Commission or the European Court of Justice.<\/p>\n

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

Sweden has stepped up its opposition to proposed nicotine pouch bans in France and Spain, sending formal letters to both governments and calling the measures \u201cabsurd.\u201d The correspondence, signed by Swedish trade minister Benjamin Dousa and dated 24 September, urges Paris and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990005,"featured_media":27273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[327,186,331,333],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-27272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-france","tag-nicotine","tag-spain","tag-sweden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27272","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=27272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27279,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27272\/revisions\/27279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27272"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=27272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}