New EU tobacco directive threatens to outlaw 70 percent of Sweden’s snus

The EU’s proposed new Tobacco Products Directive could threaten as much as 70 percent of the snus now sold in Sweden, the only EU country allowed to sell this product, according to a story in The Local.

Livsmedelsverket, the national food agency, has apparently weighed in on the debate by submitting its analysis of the proposed directive to the Swedish government.

“It is clear that many types of snus would be banned,” the agency’s inspector, Christer Johansson, was quoted as telling the TT news agency on Friday.

The European Commission has suggested that a panel of snus tasters rule on whether a product has a clear-enough “tobacco taste” for it to be allowed on to the market, and Johansson said it would be up to the panel to decide what a “clear taste” was.

The commission, meanwhile, has claimed that a ban on “nontobacco” flavoring in tobacco products would knock out about 10 percent of Swedish snus sales, but Swedish Match puts the figure as high as 70 percent of its snus offering.