Why has France banned nicotine pouches, and why is Sweden angry?

The French government has introduced one of Europe's toughest restrictions on oral nicotine products, outlawing not only their sale and import but also their possession and use.

The measures, which took effect on April 1, target products such as Zyn and similar tobacco-free nicotine sachets that have rapidly gained popularity among younger consumers in Europe and the United States.

The decision has opened divisions within the European Union, with Sweden and several other countries questioning whether France’s rules violate the bloc’s single-market principles.

At the same time, French health authorities insist the ban is necessary to counter rising nicotine dependency, increasing poison-control incidents and the aggressive digital marketing of nicotine products to teenagers.

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What are nicotine pouches?

Nicotine pouches are small oral sachets that deliver nicotine without involving smoke, vapour or tobacco leaf.

Users place the pouch between the upper lip and gum, allowing nicotine to pass through the oral lining directly into the bloodstream. A single pouch session can typically last from 20 minutes to an hour.

File Image/Firstpost via Yale Medicine

The products are often mistaken for Scandinavian snus, but there is a significant difference between the two. Traditional snus contains moist, pasteurised tobacco, whereas nicotine pouches contain no tobacco leaf at all.

Instead, they are made using plant-based fibres, sweeteners, flavouring agents and nicotine in either synthetic or tobacco-derived form.

How did nicotine pouches grow in Europe?

Because the products avoided the use of tobacco leaf, they slipped outside many European tobacco-control laws for years.

Existing regulations focused largely on tobacco-containing products, allowing nicotine pouches to enter the market with relatively fewer restrictions related to packaging, health warnings, retail placement and online promotion.

The products first emerged in Sweden during the 2010s as a tobacco-free alternative to both cigarettes and snus.

From there, multinational tobacco and nicotine companies began investing heavily in the category, viewing pouches as a potentially profitable smoke-free substitute as cigarette consumption declined in several countries.

Brands such as Zyn — originally developed in Sweden — saw explosive growth across Europe and North America.

Their popularity was driven partly by convenience and discretion. Unlike cigarettes or vaping products, nicotine pouches do not create smoke, odour or vapour, making them difficult to detect in workplaces, schools and public spaces.

The products also became heavily associated with social media marketing campaigns, particularly among younger demographics.

“These products are engineered for addiction," Etienne Krug, director of the World Health Organization's Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention, said earlier this month.

Why did France decide to impose such a strict ban?

French authorities say the crackdown was prompted by mounting concerns over addiction risks, youth exposure and inconsistent nicotine concentrations.

Under the new rules introduced through Decree No. 2025-898, France prohibited the sale, acquisition, possession and import of oral nicotine pouches and similar products. The decree also covers nicotine beads and related oral delivery systems.

The French health ministry classified nicotine as a “toxic substance” while citing growing evidence of harmful health effects linked to high-dose oral nicotine exposure.

Authorities pointed to increasing reports from poison-control centres involving adolescents who had consumed nicotine pouches. According to the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), a large share of reported cases involved individuals between the ages of 12 and 17.

French regulators warned that some teenagers suffered from “acute nicotine syndrome,” which can involve prolonged vomiting, dehydration, severe blood pressure instability and, in serious cases, convulsions or disorders affecting consciousness.

Officials were also alarmed by the scale of online promotion surrounding nicotine pouches. In a November 2023 assessment, ANSES reported that advertising for nicotine pouches and similar products had spread extensively across social media platforms.

French authorities argued that companies were bypassing traditional tobacco advertising restrictions by using influencer-driven campaigns on TikTok and Instagram, alongside colourful packaging and sweet flavours such as cola, passionfruit and mint varieties.

Health officials contended that the products were deliberately designed to attract consumers who had otherwise avoided conventional smoking.

Another major concern for French regulators involved the hidden nature of pouch consumption. Because the products leave no smell and do not produce smoke or vapour, officials argued they could be used discreetly inside classrooms and other public environments without immediate detection.

Authorities warned this could normalise nicotine consumption among non-smokers and create a new pathway toward long-term addiction.

French laboratories also reportedly discovered inconsistencies in nicotine delivery among various products entering the market.

Some pouches were found to contain nicotine levels substantially higher than those associated with conventional cigarettes. Testing on certain unauthorised samples also reportedly detected traces of heavy metals.

What penalties could people face under the French rules?

France’s restrictions are among the toughest currently in force anywhere in Europe because they extend beyond commercial distribution and target possession and personal use as well.

Individuals violating the decree can face prison sentences of up to five years along with financial penalties reaching €375,000, or roughly $436,600.

The rules apply not only to domestic sales but also to importation and personal possession. This means travellers carrying nicotine pouches legally purchased in another country could theoretically face sanctions while entering France.

However, the French government carved out exemptions for certain categories. Traditional chewing tobacco is not included in the prohibition. Licensed smoking-cessation products such as nicotine gums, inhalers and patches sold through pharmacies also remain legal.

Cigarettes and vaping products are likewise unaffected by the decree.

How are other countries regulating nicotine pouches?

Some governments have introduced outright prohibitions, while others have opted for medical-only access or regulated commercial sales.

France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Singapore, Russia, Uzbekistan and South Australia have all moved toward comprehensive bans or strong restrictions. In some of these jurisdictions, the products cannot legally be sold, imported or distributed online.

Germany has taken a different route. Rather than implementing a specific nicotine pouch law, German authorities classify oral nicotine products as unauthorised food ingredients under food-safety rules.

Since nicotine is considered a health hazard in food products, retail sales are effectively blocked.

Australia has limited access through a prescription-based system, allowing nicotine pouches only via pharmacies and medical authorisation.

Certain Canadian provinces, including British Columbia and Quebec, have also restricted retail sales by moving products behind pharmacy counters.

Meanwhile, countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and New Zealand continue to permit nicotine pouch sales under regulated consumer frameworks. These systems generally involve age-verification requirements, manufacturing standards and warning labels.

The United Kingdom is currently considering tighter controls through its Tobacco and Vapes Bill, including proposed restrictions on flavours and marketing practices.

Sweden regulates nicotine pouches alongside its long-established snus market.

Why is Sweden angry over the French crackdown?

The French decree has become a major diplomatic issue for Sweden, where oral nicotine products are deeply embedded in the country’s culture and consumer market.

Swedish Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa accused France of targeting Swedish traditions and criticised the measures as disproportionate. “It is as if we would prohibit French baguettes or French wine in Sweden,” Dousa told the Financial Times.

“It is absurd.”

Dousa later escalated his criticism by describing the French measures as “an attack on the Swedish way of living”.

“In Sweden, we have had a relationship with snus since the 1600s,” Dousa said. “So this is an attack on the Swedish way of living.”

Sweden is among seven European countries — alongside Italy and Greece — that have formally raised concerns over whether the French restrictions comply with European Union law. “From our perspective, it is not in line with the single market,” Dousa said.

The issue has also spilled into the European Parliament. Five Swedish Social Democrat lawmakers threatened to stop attending parliamentary sessions in Strasbourg, arguing in a letter to Parliament President Roberta Metsola that France’s measures undermine the EU’s principles of free movement.

The lawmakers argued that travellers carrying legally purchased nicotine pouches risk sanctions when entering France, creating what they described as direct barriers to movement within the bloc.

Why is the European Union now under pressure to act?

When Sweden joined the EU in 1995, it negotiated an exemption allowing snus to remain legal domestically despite a broader European ban on oral tobacco products introduced in 1992.

However, nicotine pouches were developed much later and are not specifically covered under the EU’s current tobacco legislation. As a result, member states have been left to design their own rules independently.

That fragmentation has produced dramatically different national policies across Europe, ranging from full prohibition to open retail sales.

The European Union is now reviewing its tobacco framework for the first time since 2014, and nicotine pouches are expected to become a central issue in those discussions.

According to diplomats cited by the Financial Times, the previous review of EU tobacco laws attracted some of the most intense lobbying campaigns ever seen in Brussels.

France’s position has also attracted criticism from some European officials because of the country’s historical support for EU single-market principles.

One European diplomat described the French position as “ironic”, given Paris’s longstanding advocacy for free-market integration within the bloc.

Meanwhile, anti-smoking groups in France have defended the crackdown, arguing that the commercial expansion of nicotine pouches poses a serious long-term public health risk.

François Topart of anti-smoking association CNTC told the Financial Times, “We’re not focused on consumers as much as on producers. It’s the commercialisation of the pouches that’s of real interest.”

Some parts of the French decree, however, have already faced legal challenges. France’s highest administrative court temporarily suspended provisions linked to the production and export of nicotine pouches after a domestic producer contested the measures. Restrictions covering possession and sales remain in force.

Major tobacco companies, meanwhile, have criticised what they see as an imbalance in public policy. Philip Morris International executive Massimo Andolina argued that regulators are increasingly targeting smoke-free nicotine products while conventional cigarettes remain widely available.

“We find ourselves in this senseless situation where nobody is talking about regulating or banning cigarettes anymore, but everyone is talking about banning smoke-free products,” he told the Financial Times.

With inputs from agencies