A ban on online sales and a restriction of flavours to artificial tobacco and menthol only. This is what the Netherlands, together with Belgium and Latvia, wants to introduce for nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes at EU level. Now, together with various interest groups, they are criticising the European Commission for not prioritising the issue of the Tobacco Products Directive in 2025.
The issue of nicotine pouches and future regulation of e-cigarettes will likely not be a priority in 2025. This is clear after the European Commission did not even mention a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in its statement for the coming year. Nevertheless, extensive lobbying efforts are underway to influence the Commission, not least from groups with close ties to the anti-tobacco movement and organisations funded by various pharmaceutical companies.
"A serious health risk"
According to the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), new nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn products pose a "serious health risk" and the lack of revision of the Tobacco Products Directive is an obstacle to reducing smoking in the EU. Among other things, the organisation wants a ban on disposable models and a ban on online sales of all nicotine products.
Flavour ban for nicotine pouches
The Netherlands, together with Belgium and Latvia, are now calling on the Commission to introduce stricter regulations as soon as possible. These regulations must also include nicotine pouches, a product that is currently only regulated locally and not at EU level. According to the newspaper Euractiv, the Netherlands has submitted a number of proposals in an open letter to the Commission on how nicotine pouches should be handled.
"The Commission should introduce strict restrictions on flavours, a nicotine ceiling and requirements for plain packaging," the Dutch Minister of Health wrote in the letter, according to Euractiv.
Already have stricter rules
The Netherlands, Belgium and Latvia are the countries that currently have the EU's most extensive restrictions on so-called "new" nicotine products. In the Netherlands, for example, nicotine pouches are banned and e-liquids can only have an artificial tobacco flavour. Belgium recently banned disposable vapes and nicotine pouches altogether. The official motive in all cases has been to reduce use among young people and non-smokers.
More young people vaping despite ban
Denmark, which recently introduced similar flavour bans and plain packaging for e-cigarettes, is now introducing similar restrictions for nicotine pouches. In Denmark, it is also prohibited to buy nicotine products online across borders.
But according to Jeanett Andersen, Head of Communications at Gejser, one of the major retailers of e-cigarettes in Denmark, the bans have proven to be downright counterproductive, especially when it comes to youth consumption.
"This can now be seen in the statistics. Since the flavour ban was introduced, e-cigarette use among young people (15-29 years) has increased from 4 % to 12 %. Politicians' bans aren't working and more bans won't make it better," she tells VapeCheck.
