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Tag: Sweden

  • BAT Launches Dual-Flavor VELO Pouches in Sweden

    BAT Launches Dual-Flavor VELO Pouches in Sweden

    British American Tobacco launched VELO WRKS in Sweden, a new nicotine pouch line featuring cans divided into two compartments, each containing a different flavor, on Nov. 2. The first release, called Drop 1, includes three combinations: Raspberry Lime/Strawberry Basil; Tropical Orange/Lemongrass Ginger; and Cardamom Bread/Red Miso. Each can contains 20 tobacco-free pouches, with 10 in each compartment, and delivers 8 milligrams of nicotine per pouch.

    The products are priced at SEK 52.99 ($5.10) per can, with discounts for multipack purchases. BAT describes WRKS as a platform for new product ideas and flavor combinations.

  • Sweden Opposes EU Tobacco Tax Increase Ahead of Meeting

    Sweden Opposes EU Tobacco Tax Increase Ahead of Meeting

    Sweden is expected to oppose a proposed European Union overhaul of tobacco excise taxes at a Nov. 9 meeting of EU finance ministers, according to an EU official cited by Law360. The proposal would substantially increase minimum excise duties on cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products and introduce EU-wide minimum taxes for nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco. EU tax legislation requires unanimous approval by member states, meaning Sweden’s opposition could block the proposal in its current form.

    Sweden has objected particularly to proposed minimum taxes on tobacco-free nicotine pouches, arguing that member states should retain the ability to set tax rates according to differences in product risk. The European Commission’s July 2025 proposal would also introduce new tax categories for e-cigarette liquids and heated tobacco, while excluding traditional tobacco snus. EU ambassadors discussed a revised compromise in October, and finance ministers are scheduled to consider the package on Nov. 9.

  • Report Compares UAE and Swedish Tobacco Policies

    Report Compares UAE and Swedish Tobacco Policies

    A new report from Smoke Free Sweden, Tale of Two Nations: UAE v Sweden, compares tobacco-control policies and smoking rates in the United Arab Emirates and Sweden. The report states that the UAE’s adult smoking rate fell from 14.7% in 2019 to 11.1% in 2024, while Sweden’s daily adult smoking rate reached 5.3% in 2024.

    The report attributes Sweden’s decline to a combination of traditional tobacco controls and access to alternatives, including snus, nicotine pouches, and vapes. It recommends that the UAE establish a national tobacco harm reduction framework, align regulation and taxation with product risk, improve data collection on product use and switching, and expand public information about alternatives while maintaining protections against underage use.

  • Haypp to End Snusnetto Sales After Age-Verification Ruling

    Haypp to End Snusnetto Sales After Age-Verification Ruling

    Haypp Group subsidiary Snusbolaget Norden AB stopped selling tobacco and nicotine products through Snusnetto.se effective Oct. 19, after Sweden’s Supreme Administrative Court declined to hear an appeal concerning age verification for parcel locker deliveries. The decision follows a ruling by the Stockholm Administrative Court of Appeal that geo-located BankID verification at parcel lockers does not meet legal requirements for secure age verification. The closure affects about 500 active customers and is not expected to have a material impact on Haypp Group’s financial results.

    Haypp’s other Swedish e-commerce sites are introducing a new verification system that checks the age of the person opening the parcel locker and collecting the shipment. The rollout began in October and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The changes do not affect deliveries to staffed collection points, where employees verify recipients’ ages when handing over parcels.

  • Imperial Acquires Owner of Helwit Nicotine Pouches

    Imperial Acquires Owner of Helwit Nicotine Pouches

    Imperial Brands announced the acquisition of Swedish modern oral nicotine company Yoik Group AB, owner of the Helwit nicotine pouch brand, for an initial SEK 515 million (£39.8 million), plus a performance-based deferred payment over two years. Helwit has a 3.4% share of Sweden’s modern oral nicotine market and is sold online across Europe and in select U.K. retailers.

    The acquisition more than doubles Imperial’s existing modern oral market share in Sweden, where the company operates through Skruf AB. Yoik’s founders and employees will join Imperial, while the Helwit brand will remain focused on its flavor-led portfolio and Swedish heritage. The deal is part of Imperial’s strategy to expand its next-generation product portfolio through bolt-on acquisitions.

  • Swedish Election Threatens EU Tobacco Tax Talks 

    Swedish Election Threatens EU Tobacco Tax Talks 

    According to a Euractiv article today (Aug. 31), EU diplomats expect limited progress on the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED) at the September 14 meeting, as Sweden’s national election the day before could leave Stockholm without a firm position while coalition negotiations take place. The proposed TED would raise tobacco taxes across the EU and is linked to plans to generate €11.2 billion annually for the bloc’s next long-term budget. The file stalled after Sweden objected to proposed taxation of nicotine pouches, with Stockholm seeking to protect its traditional snus market. 

    Prolonged talks could also complicate Ireland’s efforts to secure a Council agreement in October and potentially lead Sweden to abstain from a key vote expected at the October 9 ECOFIN meeting. According to Euractiv, Ireland expects September discussions to focus mainly on technical issues rather than resolving political differences. The next Swedish government is likely to face continued pressure over snus and nicotine taxation, while EU officials remain focused on the bloc’s longer-term ambition to become both smoke-free and nicotine-free. 

  • Sweden Fights Against France’s Nicotine Pouch Ban

    Sweden Fights Against France’s Nicotine Pouch Ban

    Sweden has strongly opposed France’s ban on oral nicotine pouches, with Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa arguing the move violates EU single market rules and unfairly targets a key Swedish industry. According to Economie Matin, the Swedish Social Democratic Party sent a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, “to obtain clarifications on the legality of the French ban and its scientific basis. If there is no response within three weeks, legal action before the Court of Justice of the European Union could be initiated.”

    Stockholm is defending the products as a harm-reduction alternative to cigarettes, highlighting their widespread domestic use and economic importance, while criticizing the inconsistency of banning pouches but allowing combustible tobacco. The dispute has escalated politically, with Swedish lawmakers seeking EU intervention and warning of potential legal action, underscoring growing divisions in Europe over nicotine regulation and the balance between public health and market freedoms.

  • Sweden Nears Milestone as Europe’s First ‘Smoke-Free’ Nation

    Sweden Nears Milestone as Europe’s First ‘Smoke-Free’ Nation

    Sweden’s smoking rate is in decline this year, putting it on track to become Europe’s first smoke-free country, ready to eclipse the World Health Organization’s 5% threshold, according to Gulf News. Last year, its daily smoking rate fell to 5.2%, a sharp decline from 15% in 2005, credited to long-running public health campaigns and the widespread switch to lower-risk nicotine products such as snus and tobacco-free pouches.

    About 18% of Swedes now use snus or similar products, which, though not risk-free, experts say are far less harmful than cigarettes. Over the past decade, daily smoking has dropped 55%, accompanied by a 38% fall in tobacco-related deaths among men and a 41% decline in lung cancer cases.

    Public health specialists say Sweden’s blend of regulation, clear messaging, and safer alternatives—backed by high social trust—offers a potential roadmap for other nations working to cut smoking rates.

  • Sweden Rejects EU Plan to Fund Budget with Tobacco Tax

    Sweden Rejects EU Plan to Fund Budget with Tobacco Tax

    Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson called an EU proposal to use revenue from higher tobacco taxes to help fund the bloc’s next long-term budget “completely unacceptable,” saying the proposal threatens the sale of nicotine pouches and undermines national tax sovereignty. Sweden has positioned itself as a model for tobacco harm reduction, citing a smoking rate of just 5% and a decline in smoking-related cancers.

    The proposal, referenced in a document from Germany’s International Affairs Liaison Office in Brussels and submitted to the German parliament, suggests new EU revenue sources for the 2028–2034 budget could include levies on electronic waste and tobacco. Though not yet officially confirmed by the European Commission, the idea adds to growing pressure from at least 15 EU member states to raise excise duties on tobacco products.

    Euractiv reported the European Commission is considering a 139% tax hike on cigarettes, along with steeper levies on alternative products such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco. Sweden now joins Italy, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria in opposing the move, primarily to defend nicotine pouches.

    In a post on X, Svantesson said the proposal would result in “a very significant tax increase on white snus,” and that the Commission wants the tax revenue “to go to the EU and not to Sweden.” 

  • UAE Points to Sweden in Approving Nicotine Pouches

    UAE Points to Sweden in Approving Nicotine Pouches

    The UAE approved the sale of synthetic nicotine pouches—subject to sellers meeting safety standards set out by the government—with the hope that the smoke-free nicotine alternatives entering the market would be helpful in helping people quit smoking. Smoking rates remain relatively high in the UAE and Middle East in general, with 12% and 20% of the people smoking, respectively.

    The UAE vaping market is expected to be worth $78 million this year, according to market analysts Statista.

    UAE officials pointed to the potential nicotine pouches showed elsewhere, particularly in Europe. With the help of alternative nicotine products, Sweden slashed smoking rates and transitioned toward harm-reduction public health policies on tobacco, reducing rates of lung, lip and oral cancer, as well as oesophageal, and stomach cancers considerably since 1980.

    “We have replaced cigarette smoking with alternative nicotine products, pouches, and that has really had a dramatic impact on the public health here in Sweden,” said Patrik Hildingsson, director of oral category communication at Philip Morris, producers of the globally popular Zyn nicotine pouch. “Cigarette smoking is harmful to health, there is no doubt about that. To reduce the harm, you need to quit, but many people just don’t, they stay with their cigarettes. For these people, we need to give them alternatives to get out of the combustions, the smoke process, and the chemicals that come with burning a crop.”