Sweden and France argue over nicotine pouches: "As if we would ban French baguettes"

©picture alliance / Anadolu | Atila Altuntas

Since April 1, it has been prohibited in France to buy, sell, import, possess or use nicotine products for oral use. And this ban firmly hits the Swedish economy because French people were buying these nicotine pouches en masse from the Swedish market.

"It's as if we were to ban French baguettes or French wine in Sweden," Swedish Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa told the British business newspaper Financial Times. "This is an attack on the Swedish lifestyle," he stated sharply.

To be clear, this is not "snus" or chewing tobacco, but the tobacco-free nicotine pouches. Nicotine pouches are similar to snus, but are entirely tobacco-free. They are pouches with a filler of non-tobacco stuff, flavorings and nicotine purified from tobacco plants. Again, nicotine is absorbed through mouth and lip mucosa, often with similar strengths and flavors (such as menthol, coffee or fruit). The risks come primarily from the nicotine itself, which is addictive and can affect brain development in young people. Snus and chewing tobacco had already been banned at the European level. And nicotine sachets have also been banned in France since April 1. And that is not to the liking of the Swedes, who are losing a large sales market with this.

After all, Sweden itself sees nicotine pouches as an alternative to cigarettes. Just Monday, the Swedish government announced that the country has reached its goal of being "smoke-free" by 2025, with less than 5 percent of the population smoking cigarettes daily. A quarter of Swedes do still use nicotine every day. This mostly involves snus.

Sweden condemns and criticizes the French ban on nicotine bags and has formally objected to the European Commission, in part because of the curtailment of consumer choice. Sweden is therefore committed to keeping the sale of nicotine pouches possible in the EU. Snus has been banned in the European Union since 1992, but Sweden was granted an exception to that rule when it joined the EU.

The World Health Organization (WHO) was still warning in mid-May about the explosion of nicotine pouches around the world, especially among young people. According to the organization, the products are created and promoted in a way that encourages addiction and deception, and are "deliberately designed to be addictive."

©picture alliance / Anadolu | Atila Altuntas