{"id":30527,"date":"2025-11-11T11:54:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T11:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=30527"},"modified":"2025-11-11T11:54:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T11:54:29","slug":"french-mps-challenge-nicotine-pouch-ban-in-new-budget-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/french-mps-challenge-nicotine-pouch-ban-in-new-budget-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"French MPs challenge nicotine pouch ban in new budget battle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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France\u2019s planned ban on nicotine pouches from next spring could be in jeopardy after a series of amendments were tabled in the National Assembly aimed at softening or replacing the measure.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prohibition, due to take effect in March 2026, is part of the government\u2019s 2026 budget bill (Projet de loi de finances 2026). The measure, published in decree form in September, would outlaw the manufacture, import, sale, possession, and use of all oral nicotine products that are not authorised as medicines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under France\u2019s Public Health Code, those caught possessing or using such products could face up to five years in prison and fines of up to \u20ac375,000 – penalties harsher than those for personal use of narcotics such as cocaine or heroin, which carry a maximum one-year sentence and a \u20ac3,750 fine. Enforcement would fall to customs officers, consumer-protection agencies, and police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the proposed ban has triggered significant resistance – not just from consumers and harm-reduction advocates, but now from within parliament itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers challenge prohibition<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Several MPs have filed amendments that would undercut the government\u2019s plan by replacing a total ban with a regulatory and tax-based model. The most notable, Amendment I-CF935<\/a>, was submitted by Ludovic Mend\u00e8s and Philippe Gosselin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than criminalising users and retailers, their proposal would keep pouches legal but regulated, subject to excise duty – \u20ac22 per kilogram from March 2026, rising to \u20ac44 in 2027 and \u20ac66 in 2028. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text defines nicotine pouches as \u201cproducts presented in sachets-portions or sachets poreux.. containing nicotine but no tobacco\u201d and argues that regulation offers a safer, more realistic alternative to prohibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the amendment is currently listed as \u201cnon soutenu\u201d (not yet supported or adopted), it represents the first organised parliamentary effort to temper the government\u2019s hard line. Its appearance also suggests the proposed ban – which critics say breaches EU free-movement rules and could criminalise consumers – is no longer guaranteed to pass unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vape tax rejected<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The debate over oral nicotine comes as MPs have already moved to protect vaping from new fiscal measures. On 22 October, the National Assembly\u2019s Finance Committee rejected a proposed tax<\/a> on vaping liquids, keeping France\u2019s vape tax at zero for 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That decision was seen as a win for harm-reduction advocates, who argue that affordability is key to helping smokers switch to safer alternatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens next<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The budget debate<\/a> resumes on 13 November, with a solemn vote on the first part of the bill scheduled for 17 November at 15:00. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any change to the nicotine pouch ban or vaping provisions will need to be confirmed in that vote or later during Senate negotiations before final adoption in December.<\/p>\n

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

France\u2019s planned ban on nicotine pouches from next spring could be in jeopardy after a series of amendments were tabled in the National Assembly aimed at softening or replacing the measure. The prohibition, due to take effect in March 2026, is part…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990005,"featured_media":30528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[327,183,186],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-30527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-france","tag-harm-reduction","tag-nicotine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30527","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=30527"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30618,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30527\/revisions\/30618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30527"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=30527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}