Considerate Pouchers responds to health ministers’ call to ban nicotine pouches

Considerate Pouchers today criticised a joint letter from eight EU health ministers asking the European Commission to allow national bans on nicotine pouches.

The letter, dated October 6th and led by Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans, is co-signed by the health ministers of Belgium, Finland, France, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia and Spain. It calls on Health Commissioner Olívér Várhelyi to use the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) to let member states ban nicotine pouches outright, freeze the entry of any new nicotine products into the EU market, and impose strict nicotine limits, a broad flavour ban and plain packaging across all products.

“Eight health ministers are asking the Commission for the power to ban nicotine pouches. Sweden, which allows them, has the lowest smoking rate in the EU. So the question for these ministers is simple: what’s their plan for the smokers who switch back?” said Juan Taborcía, Global Spokesperson for Considerate Pouchers.

The letter describes nicotine pouches as a circumvention of the EU ban on snus and calls claims about smoking cessation “unfounded”. Considerate Pouchers says the real-world evidence points the other way. According to official data, Sweden, where snus and nicotine pouches are legal, had the lowest smoking rate in the EU at 5%, against an EU average of 24%.

Other countries are choosing regulation over prohibition. On October 1st, Paraguay’s health regulator published rules that keep pouches legal for adults, with a limit of 16.7 mg of nicotine per pouch, quality standards and mandatory age checks for online sales. Portugal’s parliament is debating a bill today that would allow pouches of up to 12 mg, with a ban on sales to minors.

“I quit smoking with nicotine pouches. If they had been banned back then, I honestly think I’d still be smoking,” said Taborcía. “Adults who switched are not using a loophole. We’re the evidence that switching works.”

Considerate Pouchers calls on the European Commission to regulate nicotine pouches proportionally in the revised TPD, rather than open the door to national bans. That means access to different flavours, quality and safety standards, a nicotine limit that reflects what adults need to stay off cigarettes (like 20mg per pouch), taxation proportionality and no sales to minors.

“The Commission has a choice,” Taborcía added. “It can learn from the countries that are cutting smoking, or listen to the ones asking for permission to ban the alternatives.”