France: oral tobacco and nicotine pouch regulation, June 2025

The French regulatory framework for oral tobacco products and nicotine pouches is expected to change in the near future. Although 2024 legislative elections for the National Assembly did not grant a ruling majority to the executive – making any policy approval much more difficult – nicotine pouches’ growing popularity and the minister of health’s intention to ban them are key drivers.

Chewing tobacco falls within the category of tobacco products defined by the Public Health Code as “products which can be consumed and which consist, even partially, of tobacco, whether or not genetically modified”. The law allows the sale and consumption of chewing tobacco but bans the sale and consumption of snus.

This report provides detailed analysis of the regulatory framework in France for oral tobacco and nicotine pouches, covering all policy areas – such as taxation, market access and advertising – as well as proposed bills that could affect the legal regime.

Irene Villani

Legal analyst
Irene holds a double degree in Italian and French law from the Universities of Florence and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and an MA in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals. She has been an intern at UNESCO and the OECD, and has worked as a legal consultant and a researcher at Dow Jones.

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