Market & legal data of alternative tobacco products in Europe

21st February 2025: Portugal: The Tax and Customs Authority has updated the list of approved and non-approved tobacco products in force, which includes nicotine-containing e-liquids. The total number of tobacco products included is 9,350.
21st February 2025: France: The Paris Criminal Court has fined the French subsidiary of Philip Morris and its former president Jeanne Pollès €500,000 and €50,000, respectively. The company and the former president were found guilty of “direct advertising or propaganda” in favour of tobacco and vaping products. According to the court, Iqos products were presented on the company’s website with statements “which have the aim or effect of promoting both the quality and safety of the Iqos device, under the guise of an an alleged reduction in the scientifically validated risks associated with tobacco consumption”. The company was fined in 2024 for a similar reason, when it was sued by the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT).
20th February 2025: EU, Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia: The comments and detailed opinions provided by the European Commission, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Greece and Italy on the Austrian TRIS notification 2024/0610/AT have been published. The standstill period of the notification, which concerns an Austrian ordinance specifying prohibited substances in tobacco products and e-liquids, has been extended to 8th May based on the comments raised. All commenting countries argue that a ban on glycerol, proposed by the Austrian ordinance, would, in addition to going beyond EU requirements, result in a de facto ban on all e-liquids since glycerol is an essential ingredient in the manufacture of e-liquids and an important additive in tobacco products. This would effectively make the manufacture of vaping products technically unfeasible.
20th February 2025: EU: Today, the European Parliament Committee on Public Health (SANT) held an exchange of views with the Polish minister of health, Izabela Leszczyna, on the priorities of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union in the field of public health. Among Poland’s priorities during its Council presidency (from 1st January to 31st June 2025), the country states that “should the Commission present a legislative proposal on the structure of taxation and excise rates applicable to tobacco products and substitute products, the Presidency will take work forward on this”.
19th February 2025: France: On 18th February, the Senate definitively adopted the 2025 Social Security Budget Bill, and no new excise tax has been introduced for nicotine pouches. However, the Senate Social Affairs Committee report highlights the health minister’s intention to ban the product through regulation or decree.
19th February 2025: Portugal: The Single-Use Plastics Management Association (ÚNICO) has been granted a licence to operate Portugal’s first extended producer responsibility system for managing waste from tobacco products with filters. ÚNICO brings together companies that place tobacco products on the market – British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands Portugal, JTI Portugal, Landewick and Tabaqueira – and Electrão, the Waste Management Association. This initiative is a result of the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive, and ÚNICO will assist companies in complying with these new regulations through extended producer responsibility systems, ensuring that producers contribute financially to waste prevention and collection as part of urban cleaning efforts. The directive mandates that costs be shared proportionally among producers to support these services.
19th February 2025: Russia: The government is actively discussing reforms in the tobacco trade, focusing on tougher liability for counterfeit sales. Instead of fines, violators may be forced to exit the market, media reports. By 3rd March, officials must compare two regulatory models: licensing tobacco sellers similar to the alcohol market or creating a permit registry. Control over the turnover will be entrusted to the Federal Service for Alcohol and Tobacco Control or to the regions. According to experts, the illegal trade in tobacco annually costs the budget more than RUB100bn (€1bn).
18th February 2025: Ukraine: The Bureau of Economic Security reported an incident involving a man who was detained at the Polish border while trying to smuggle over 11,500 nicotine pouches into Ukraine – violating customs regulations – valued at over UAH3m (€69,000), media reports. A criminal case has been opened.
17th February 2025: Ukraine: A petition has been registered on the president's website calling on him to sign a bill to change excise taxes on tobacco and related products, which was sent for signature on 9th December 2024. If signed, it would introduce new excise tax rates for tobacco and related products from 1st January 2028, taking into account the minimum level determined by the EU Tobacco Tax Directive (2011/64/EU), and the euro would be introduced as the monetary unit to use to measure the excise tax rate on such products. Starting from 1st January 2028, heated tobacco would be taxed at a rate of €72 per 1,000 pieces, other products intended for inhalation without burning (we assume this would cover herbal heated products) at €85 per kg, and nicotine-containing products for oral use (nicotine pouches) at €85 per kg. Until that date, heated tobacco would be taxed at a rate of €70.40 per 1,000 pieces in 2025, €70.80 in 2026 and €71,14 in 2027; other products intended for inhalation without burning at €73 per kg in 2025, €77 in 2026 and €81 in 2027; and nicotine-containing products for oral use at €73 per kg in 2025, €77 in 2026 and €81 in 2027. As of today, the petition has collected just over 1,350 votes out of the 25,000 needed.
14th February 2025: France: On 12th February, the National Assembly adopted, without a vote, a new reading of the “expenditure” part and the entire 2025 Social Security Finance Bill. The proposal for a ban on nicotine pouches has been withdrawn from the text, replaced by an initial excise duty at €22 per 1,000 g. On 17th and 18th February, the Senate will discuss the text in a new reading.
14th February 2025: Spain: The Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration (Sespas) is urging the government to raise tobacco prices and implement plain packaging to reduce smoking, especially among youth, press reports. While the first version of the draft amending royal decree 579/2017 initially imposed neutral packaging, the final version of the draft decree – which was notified to the EU Commission via the EU TRIS database on 27th January 2025 – has not included this requirement. On 28th January, the state secretary of health explained that they plan to introduce this obligation via an amendment of the Tobacco Law. Sespas has also stressed that Spain's tobacco prices are lower than neighbouring countries, making cigarettes more accessible.
13th February 2025: Austria: An agreement to reach a government coalition between the Freedom Party of Austria (right) and the Austrian People's Party (centre-right) after the September 2024 elections has failed, press reports. The failure to reach an agreement may result either in another election, in a new attempt from centrist parties – namely the Social Democratic Party of Austria (centre-left), the Austrian People's Party and the NEOS party (centre) – to reach a government agreement (though they failed to do so last month) or in the appointment of an expert or transitional government by the president of Austria. As shown in our Policy Radar, a rightist coalition in Austria could be a more positive development for the industry than a leftist one.

LATEST ALERTS

Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in Europe

France shifts stance on nicotine pouches, paving the way for a potential ban

Is European Commission caution on tobacco regulation based on science?

Haypp Group reports strong growth in nicotine pouches, with UK sales surging

Italy: the heated tobacco market – consumer survey report, February 2025

Switzerland: heated tobacco market snapshot, February 2025

UK: heated tobacco market snapshot, January 2025

Moldova: oral tobacco and nicotine pouch regulation, February 2025

Moldova: heated tobacco and herbal heated products regulation, February 2025

Top changes that matter in this month’s Policy Radar update, Nov 2024 – Jan 2025

Herbal heated sticks tracker

Heated tobacco compatible hardware tracker

Heated tobacco pricing tracker

TobaccoIntelligence compliance calendar

Global regulatory tracker: heated tobacco regulation, December

Regulatory database: global alerts round-up, January

Sign up to our newsletter

LATEST ALERTS

Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in Europe

Sign up to our newsletter

Start your FREE trial