Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in Iceland
Regulatory reports
Detailed legal reports outlining industry regulation, analysis of the laws, and pertinent organisations
Regulatory data
Our full regulatory tracking databases including tax, proposed bills, etc.
NEW FORMAT
From February of 2022, subscribers will be able to view and filter individual regulatory alerts per region. If you want to get our monthly compilations, visit our alerts Round-up section.
Alerts
Our legal experts track the evolving regulation around the tobacco alternatives sector on a daily basis. These alerts are then compiled into our Monthly Round-up section.
29th September 2022
Iceland: Following the presentation of the Budget for 2023, including a 7.7% increase in tax on heated tobacco products, the Ministry of Finance is to introduce an amendment to the Act on Taxes on Alcohol and Tobacco, no. 96/1995, increasing the applicable excise duty from ISK30.15 (€0.22) to ISK32.45 (€0.23) per g of tobacco.
28th September 2022
Iceland: The Ministry of Health is inviting comments until 10th October on a bill amending the Tobacco Control Act No 6 of 2002 to transpose the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into Icelandic law. If the bill is adopted, new product and labelling restrictions and notification requirements will be applied to heated tobacco products. No changes will be applied to oral tobacco, which is banned, or to nicotine pouches, which are covered by different regulation.
13th September 2022
Iceland: The Ministry of Finance and Economy yesterday presented the draft Budget for 2023, which was being submitted to Parliament today. As it stands, it would bring an increase of 7.7% on the tobacco tax applicable to heated tobacco products.
12th September 2022
- Iceland: Last week the Ministry of Health published amendments to Regulation 991 on the packaging of nicotine products, e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine. The amendments extend the date of entry into force of the provisions applicable to nicotine pouches to 1st December 2022, except for the requirement to include nicotine content on the product packaging.
2nd September 2022
- Iceland: Following the amendments to the Law on E-cigarettes and Refills to include nicotine pouches within the scope of the law, the government has published two new regulations. Regulation 992/2022 on marketing notifications, licensing, and ingredients of nicotine products, e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine sets out the notification procedure for nicotine pouches, the procedure to obtain a licence to sell them, and a maximum nicotine content of 20 mg/g. Regulation 991 on the packaging of nicotine products, e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine establishes labelling requirements, including the specific health warning requirements for nicotine pouches.
1st September 2022
Iceland: An amendment to the Law on E-cigarettes and Refills requiring nicotine pouches to carry information on the amount of nicotine that they contain, as well as a health warning, comes into force today, 1st September. The specific requirements of the health warnings on nicotine pouches remain unclear, as the regulation setting them out only applies to e-cigarettes.
28th July 2022
Iceland: Tomorrow is the last day to submit comments on the Ministry of Health’s planned amendments to the Tobacco Control Act following the incorporation of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the EEA agreement in February. The bill to transpose the TPD into Icelandic law, which has not yet been published, is scheduled to be presented in the autumn, with the proposed changes to be made public after the consultation period.
11th July 2022
Iceland: A bill amending Law 87/2018 on electronic cigarettes and refills has today come into force. The law makes nicotine pouches subject to the same regulations as e-cigarettes, including age restrictions, product restrictions, labelling and packaging requirements, notification requirements, public usage and advertising restrictions. It also makes the sale of nicotine products subject to licensing by the Housing and Civil Engineering Institute. Some labelling restrictions will apply from 1st September.
8th July 2022
- Iceland: On 1st July the Ministry of Health made its legislative plans to amend the Tobacco Control Act following the incorporation of the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the EEA Agreement in February 2022 open for comments via the consultation portal. The legislative plans seek to implement the European TPD into the Icelandic legislative framework, although no bill has been disclosed yet, as the proposed changes will be made public after the consultation period. The bill is scheduled to be presented during the 2022 autumn session. The consultation period ends on 29th July 2022.
22nd June 2022
- Iceland: The final text of the bill amending Law 87/2018 on electronic cigarettes and refills, approved, as we previously reported on, by the Althingi (Iceland parliament) on 16th June, has been made public on the Althingi website today, 22nd June. The law makes nicotine pouches subject to the same provisions applicable to e-cigarettes, including age restrictions, product restrictions, labelling and packaging requirements, notification requirements, public usage and advertising restrictions. The law also makes the sale of nicotine products subject to a licence issued by the Housing and Civil Engineering Institute. Also, the bill initially included a flavouring ban, but the provision has been deleted in the final text following the Welfare Committee’s recommendations.
17th June 2022
- Iceland: Yesterday, 16th June, the Althingi (Icelandic parliament) approved the bill amending Law 87/2018 on electronic cigarettes and refills that we previously reported on. The bill makes nicotine pouches subject to the same provisions as e-cigarettes, including, for instance, a mandatory permit to sell them. The bill's approval has come unexpectedly, as it has been passed in a second and third reading within two days (15th and 16th June) following a three-month period of debate in the Welfare Committee. The Welfare Committee proposed deleting an article that previously set out a flavour ban, but the final text has not yet been circulated and so it is unclear whether or not the Althingi has followed the Committee's recommendation.
