The Netherlands will ban the sale of nicotine pouches and expand the rules for tobacco to cover all other types of tobacco-free nicotine products, the government announced on April 21.
Currently, Dutch law permits sales of nicotine pouches only if they contain less than 0.035 grammes of nicotine.
The new rules will also prohibit the use of nicotine pouches and other tobacco-free nicotine products in places where smoking is not allowed.
The government said it would also end all advertising for tobacco-free nicotine products, a segment that tobacco companies have invested heavily in as move away from combustible products to less harmful cigarette alternatives.
“The tobacco industry keeps launching new products that make it easy for young people to come into contact with nicotine,” health deputy minister Maarten van Ooijen was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“This is bad, because nicotine is addictive and harmful. That’s why I’m glad we will now treat these products the same as tobacco products,” he said.