A responsible and supervised sales model for nicotine pouches must be created quickly
Nicotine pouches have established themselves in the Finnish market and their use has increased in recent years. Product regulation is necessary, but legislation must be balanced. Public health and economic considerations must be taken into account and sales must always be responsible and supervised. The state would receive up to 150 million euros of tax revenue per year from the sale of nicotine pouches. The majority of users have switched to nicotine pouches from cigarettes, e-cigarettes or snuff.
Nicotine pouches have established themselves in the Finnish market and their use has increased in recent years. Product regulation is necessary, but legislation must be balanced. Public health and economic considerations must be taken into account and sales must always be responsible and supervised. The state would receive up to 150 million euros of tax revenue per year from the sale of nicotine pouches. The majority of users have switched to nicotine pouches from cigarettes, e-cigarettes or snuff.
A recent study conducted by Taloustutkimus shows that the majority of the users of nicotine pouches (86%) switched to them from cigarettes, e-cigarettes or snuff. Typically, people switch to nicotine pouches through smoking or e-smoking, whether they are current or former users or consumers who would say they are trying out nicotine pouches. Almost half of all respondents have started using nicotine pouches this way. Approximately one third of all respondents have switched from using snuff to using or trying out nicotine pouches. Nicotine pouches are clearly seen as the least harmful option in these groups.
The most popular flavours of nicotine pouches are mint and menthol as well as fruit and berry flavours. Mint is particularly popular with both men and women, but women also prefer the fruit and berry flavours. According to the new nicotine pouch draft law currently being circulated for comments, only the flavour options of mint and menthol will be allowed in the future.
“The planned ban on fruit and berry flavours raises concerns that users will switch to buying products from abroad or the grey market, which will result in the loss of tax revenue from the sale of the products. It is justified to ban candy flavours that attract children, but the effects of unnecessarily restricting generally popular flavour options must be carefully assessed,” says Tuula Loikkanen, Managing Director of the Finnish Grocery Trade Association.
Taloustutkimus also investigated the strength of nicotine pouches that consumers generally use. More than half (57%) of regular users use products containing 9 mg/bag. The majority of all users use nicotine pouches containing 4.1–12 mg/bag. In the latest proposal, the maximum nicotine limit for smoke-free nicotine products would be up to 16.6 milligrammes of nicotine per gramme of product. This would mean that, for example, a 0.7-gramme nicotine pouch may contain a maximum of just under 12 milligrammes of nicotine.
More than 60 per cent of all respondents said that they mainly purchase nicotine pouches from stores operating in Finland. Regular users prefer foreign online stores and passenger imports slightly more often than occasional users as the main purchasing channel. The proposal being circulated for comments prohibits the foreign e-commerce of nicotine bags like other tobacco products and limits the permitted amount of passenger imports.
“The new legislation should enter into force as soon as possible so that the sale of nicotine pouches can be handled in a responsible and supervised manner in Finland. In this way, the much-needed tax revenue can also be generated in Finland. It has been estimated that the VAT and excise duty profits from the sale of nicotine pouches would bring up to 150 million euros to the state annually,” says Kari Luoto, Managing Director of the Finnish Commerce Federation.
Overly strict regulation and a high price level as well as the restriction of flavour options may lead to a large part of the procurement of nicotine pouches being moved out of the Finnish market. This not only reduces tax revenue, but also makes it more difficult to monitor sales. It is important that Finland’s legislation takes into account the regulation and price levels of neighbouring countries in order to keep sales within domestic borders and prevent grey market growth.
“Despite the ban on the sale of snuff, up to seven per cent of Finns used snuff before the sale of nicotine pouches was allowed, and tax revenue was not received in Finland. The regulation of nicotine pouches must strike a balance between public health, consumer needs and the interests of the state economy. A well-planned, responsible and supervised sales model and reasonable legislation are in all of our best interests,” say Loikkanen and Luoto.
For further information, please contact:
Managing Director Kari Luoto, Finnish Commerce Federation, kari.luoto(at)kauppa.fi, tel. +358 (0) 40 068 8708
Managing Director Tuula Loikkanen, Finnish Grocery Trade Association, tuula.loikkanen(at)pty.fi, tel. +358 (0) 40 922 0750
Appendix: User survey of nicotine pouches. Taloustutkimus Oy
