Market & legal data in the tobacco alternatives sector in Iceland

21st November 2024: Iceland: The parliament has approved the bill amending the Law on Alcohol and Tobacco Tax to introduce an excise duty on nicotine pouches. The Ministry of Finance’s proposal initially sought to introduce a flat tax rate of ISK30 (€0.21) per g. However, after going through several amendments in the parliament, the rates have been changed to adopt a tax scheme based on the nicotine concentration of the product. Nicotine pouches containing between 1 mg/g and 8 mg/g of nicotine will be taxed at ISK8 (€0.05) per g of product; pouches containing between 8.1 mg/g and 12 mg/g of nicotine will be taxed at ISK12 (€0.08) per g of product; pouches containing between 12.1 mg/g and 16 mg/g of nicotine will be taxed at ISK15 (€0.10) per g of product; and pouches containing between 16.1 mg/g and 20 mg/g of nicotine will be taxed at ISK20 (€0.14) per g of product. Pouches containing more than 20 mg/g of nicotine cannot be sold in Iceland.
17th October 2024: Iceland: The Ministry of Finance has opened a draft bill for consultation that would amend the Law on Alcohol and Tobacco Tax to introduce a tax on nicotine pouches of ISK30 (€0.20) per g. The introduction of the bill follows statements from the minister of health last month that taxation of nicotine products needed to be considered in order to curb youth uptake. If the bill passes, nicotine pouches would start to be taxed in Iceland. The consultation period ends on 21st October.
30th September 2024: Iceland: The minister of health has said that taxation of nicotine products must be considered in order to curb youth uptake, press reports. Currently, only tobacco products are taxed, leaving nicotine products untaxed. No bills have been proposed to this end yet.
13th September 2024: Iceland: The Ministry of Finance has introduced a bill to the parliament to increase the applicable tax on heated tobacco products (HTPs) and chewing tobacco from ISK33.60 (€0.22) per g to ISK34.45 (€0.23) per g. The bill is likely to pass, as it was introduced as a result of the presentation of the 2025 budget.
10th June 2024: Iceland: Following the transposal of the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the Icelandic legal framework in January 2024, the Ministry of Health has opened for consultation a regulation setting out the health warning and the notification requirements for heated tobacco products (HTPs). These would need to be notified to the State Alcohol and Tobacco Company six months before they are launched on the market. The public consultation ends on 25th June 2024.
12th January 2024: Iceland: Amendments to the Tobacco Law were published on 10th January 2024 in the Official Gazette. The amendments transpose the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the Icelandic legal framework and place heated tobacco products under the product restrictions and common notification system currently in place across the EU. The law does not, however, transpose the EU-wide heated tobacco flavour ban.
8th January 2024: Iceland: The law amending various laws to accommodate the 2024 Budget was published in the Official Gazette on 27th December 2023. The bill increases the applicable excise duty on heated tobacco products and chewing tobacco from ISK32.45 (€0.22) per g to ISK33.60 (€0.23) per g. The bill entered into force on 1st January 2024.
22nd September 2023: Iceland: The minister of health has reintroduced a bill to Parliament to amend the Tobacco Control Act No. 6/2022 to transpose the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the Icelandic legal framework. The bill, which was already introduced in December 2022, would place heated tobacco products under new restrictions, including product restrictions and the common notification system currently in place across the EU. The reintroduction of the bill follows the plans set out in the parliamentary agenda for the 154th legislative session (2023-2024), presented earlier this month by prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
14th September 2023: Iceland: Yesterday (13th September), prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir presented the parliamentary agenda for the 154th legislative session (2023-2024). The agenda includes plans from the Ministry of Health to reintroduce a bill amending the Tobacco Control Act to transpose the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the Icelandic legislative framework. The bill would place heated tobacco products (HTPs) under new restrictions, including product restrictions and the common notification system currently in place across the EU. A bill to this end was proposed in December 2022, but did not get approved.
14th September 2023: Iceland: The Ministry of Finance presented a bill this week that seeks to amend various laws to accommodate the 2024 Budget. The bill would amend the Law on Alcohol and Tobacco Tax to increase the applicable excise duty on heated tobacco products and chewing tobacco from ISK32.45 (€0.22) per g to ISK33.60 (€0.23) per g.
1st March 2023: Iceland: Most of the labelling requirements laid down in Regulation 991/2022 on the packaging of nicotine products, e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine apply from today to nicotine pouches, under an amendment issued in November 2022. New restrictions include a requirement for tobacco-free pouches to carry a health warning, a list of ingredients in descending order by weight, and an information booklet containing certain warnings, contraindications and usage and storage instructions.
9th January 2023: Iceland: The Law amending various laws to accommodate the Budget for 2023 was published in the Official Gazette on 30th December 2022. The law amends the Law on tobacco and alcohol tax to increase the applicable excise duty for heated tobacco products and chewing tobacco from ISK30.15 (€0.20) to ISK32.45 (€0.21) per g of tobacco.

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