Italy: oral tobacco and nicotine pouch regulation, May 2025

Italy has recently intensified regulatory oversight of nicotine pouches, with the Ministry of Health suspending the sale of several brands pending safety evaluations, both in 2023 and in 2025. While some of these restrictions have since been lifted, others remain in place pending further regulatory assessment.

A ban on all oral tobacco products except chewing tobacco is established in the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD)-implementing decree. Nicotine pouches were regulated in February 2022 with the approval of law 15/2022, which created a new taxable product category in legislative decree 504/1995, bringing them under the control of the ADM. Nicotine pouches do not fall under the TPD-implementing decree.

This report provides detailed analysis of the regulatory framework in place in Italy for nicotine pouches and oral tobacco products, covering all policy areas.