REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the implementation by the Kingdom of Sweden of the measures necessary to ensure that oral tobacco is not placed on the market in other Member States
Date: 2010-07-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Sweden, market approval, marketing restriction, tobacco, tobacco industry

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 29.7.2010 
COM(2010)399 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation by the Kingdom of Sweden of the measures necessary to ensure 
that oral tobacco is not placed on the market in other Member States  

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation by the Kingdom of Sweden of the measures necessary to ensure 
that oral tobacco is not placed on the market in other Member States  

1. 

INTRODUCTION  

Article 8 of the Tobacco Products Directive (2001/37/EC) bans putting on the market 
of oral tobacco. The ban was originally set by the first Tobacco Products Directive 
(Directive 89/622/EEC, as amended by Directive 92/41/EEC). 

In its Accession Treaty Sweden got a derogation: 

"The  prohibition  in  Article  8a  of  Directive  89/622/EEC,  as  amended  by  Directive 
92/41/EEC, concerning the placing on the market of the product defined in Article 2 
(4) of Directive 89/622/EEC, as amended by Directive 92/41/EEC, shall not apply in 
Sweden and Norway, with the exception of the prohibition to place this product on 
the market in a form resembling a food product."1 

The  derogation  was  granted  on  condition  that  Sweden  shall  take  all  measures 
necessary to ensure that the product referred to in paragraph (a) is not placed on the 
market  in  the  Member  States  for  which  Directives  89/622/EEC  and  92/41/EEC  are 
fully applicable.2 

The  Accession  Treaty  also  obliged  the  Commission  to  monitor  the  actual 
implementation of these measures and report to the Council.3 

On 10 November 2009 the Commission sent the following request for information to 
all  Member  States  through  the  Regulatory  Committee  under  the  Tobacco  Products 
Directive: 

– 

– 

to what extent is snus consumed or marketed in your Member State (prevalence 
of  use  among  adults/adolescents,  sales  through  internet,  passenger  imports, 
smuggling)? 

what measures has your Member State taken (in addition to the marketing ban) 
to prevent snus from entering your market? As regards Sweden, this question 
seeks to know what measures this country has taken ensure that snus produced 
in Sweden is not placed on the market in other Member States. 

Altogether 23 Member States have responded to this request. 

1 

2 
3 

Council  ACT  concerning  the  conditions  of  accession  of  the  Kingdom  of  Norway,  the  Republic  of 
Austria,  the  Republic  of  Finland  and  the  Kingdom  of  Sweden  and  the  adjustments  to  the  Treaties  on 
which  the  European  Union  is  founded,  ANNEX  XV  -  List  provided  for  in  Article  151  of  the  Act  of 
Accession - X. MISCELLANEOUS, point (a). 
Ibid., point (b). 
Ibid,. points (c) and (d). 

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2. 

MARKETING OF SNUS  

2.1. 

Sweden 

In reply to the Commission's inquiry on the marketing of snus, Sweden pointed out 
that  any  type  of  sale,  including  sales  through  internet,  to  another  Member  State  is 
illegal under the Swedish law. The relevant legal provision is found in Section 14 of 
the national Tobacco Act (1993:581).  

However, this prohibition does not cover the sale of tobacco products or commercial 
messages  at  points  of  sale  for  tobacco  products.  These  commercial  messages  at 
points of sale for tobacco may, however, not be intrusive or proactive or encourage 
the use of tobacco.  

Moreover,  the  Swedish  Consumer  Agency  has  issued  general  guidelines  on  the 
marketing  of  tobacco  products  to  consumers  (KOVFS  2009:7).  These  general 
guidelines relate to the provisions on marketing contained in the Tobacco Act and to 
the  Marketing  Practices  Act,  and  their  aim  is  to  increase  compliance  with  the 
regulations on the marketing of tobacco directed at consumers. 

2.2. 

Other Member States 

Member  States  reported  that  snus  is  not  placed  on  the  market  in  their  jurisdiction. 
Snus could nevertheless be brought into the country by passengers. There is no data 
on the quantities of passenger imports of snus, except from Finland. Finland reports 
that  the  amount  of  passangers  travelling  between  Finland  and  Sweden,  who  have 
imported snus to Finland, has doubled during 2005-2007.  

Smuggling was generally not regarded as a problem. 

However, many Member States indicated that snus is marketed through the internet. 
Control is difficult to ensure. 

Prevalence  of  snus  in  Member  States  is  either  insignificant  or  there  is  no  data. 
However,  in  Finland,  around  5  %  of  adult  males  and  2  %  of  females  use  snus. 
Around  40  %  of  Finland's  18-year  old  boys  have  tried  snus  and  10  %  of  them  use 
snus regularly.  

Finland states that the figures have grown in recent years due to marketing of snus to 
passangers  travelling  between  Finland  and  Sweden.  This  consumption  results  from 
private  imports  from  abroad  (mainly  from  Sweden),  internet  sales  (mainly  from 
Sweden)  or  sales  of  smuggled  snus  in  the  black  market.  Prosecutions  have  shown 
that the illegal imports and sales is common and organised on a national scale. The 
Finnish  custom  authorities  regularly  conduct  extensive  criminal  investigations  in 
cooperation with their Swedish counterparts.  

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Because commercial import and selling of snus is prohibited in Finland, there are no 
official  consumption  figures.  However,  according  to  the  statistics  legal  private 
imports of snus from Sweden has steadily increased since 20054.  

In Sweden 19% of men and 4% of women use snus daily. 

Slovenia reports that one person has been fined for marketing snus in 2006. 

Slovenia and Denmark report on other smokeless products than snus on their market.  

3. 

PREVENTION MEASURES 

3.1. 

Sweden 

As a result of Sweden’s commitment in the Treaty of Accession, Sweden introduced 
an  Ordinance  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  snus  (1994:1266).  The  Ordinance 
entered  into  force  on  1  January  1995.  Section  1,  first  paragraph  of  the  Ordinance 
provides  that  snus  may  not  be  exported  to  another  country  in  the  European  Union. 
Under Section 1, second paragraph, the prohibition does not apply to goods carried 
by  travellers  and  intended  for  their  personal  use  or  as  a  gift  for  personal  use. 
Consequently,  the  purchase  of  snus  for  personal  use  or  as  a  gift  is  exempt  when 
making journeys from Sweden.  

The  exportation  of  snus  to  other  Member  States  is  a  punishable  offence  under  the 
Swedish  law.  Sanctions  for  offences  against  the  above  Ordinance  are  laid  down  in 
the  Smuggling  Penalties  Act  (2000:1225).  Section  3  states  that  a  person  who 
intentionally  transfers  goods  out  of  the  country  in  contravention  of  a  specifically 
prescribed  prohibition  (i.e.  the  Ordinance  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  snus)  shall 
be  found  guilty  of  smuggling.  The  current  penalty  for  smuggling  of  snus,  for 
example, is a fine or imprisonment for up to two years (Section 3).  

If the court finds that the offence is grave, the sentence shall be imprisonment for at 
least six months and at the most six years (Section 5). Minor offences are punishable 
by fines (Section 4). In cases in which the offence cannot be considered intentional, 
an  offender  can  be  sentenced  to  a  fine  or  imprisonment  for  at  most  two  years  for 
unlawful export (Section 7). Property that has been the object of an offence under the 
Smuggling  Penalties Act or the  value  of such  goods  can  be  declared  forfeit,  unless 
this is obviously unreasonable (Section 16). 

The Swedish statutes therefore make all exportation of snus from Sweden to another 
Member  State  unlawful  and  punishable,  with  the  exception  of  goods  for  travellers' 
personal use or as a gift for personal use. This also makes it illegal to export snus by 
distance  selling,  including  online  sales,  when  the  recipient  is  in  another  Member 
State.  Snus  can  only  be  transported  from  Sweden  to  another  Member  State  if  an 
individual travelling across the border takes the snus with him or her for his or her 
personal use or as a gift for personal use.  

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Report  on  snus  published  by  the  Product  Supervisory  Centre  of  Social  and  Health  Care  (reference: 
Nuuskaraportti, Sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon tuotevalvontakeskus, 2008). 

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Furthermore, it could also be stated that Swedish authorities apply the legislation in 
practice.5 A number of Swedish authorities including the courts are taking measures 
against sellers of snus to another Member State. As a result, increasing quantities of 
snus have been confiscated in Sweden as follows: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

2006 

2007 

2008 

2009 (until October) 

156 kg 

323 kg 

474 kg 

641 kg 

3.2. 

Other Member States 

A great majority of Member States report that they have not taken any measures in 
addition to banning snus. Some Member States indicated that they have banned sales 
of tobacco products on the internet. 

In  this  respect  Finland  is  an  exception.  Due  to  an  extensive  flow  of  snus  imports 
from Sweden to private users and black market, the Finnish Government has decided 
to take more stringent action.  

Finland reported that the following measures are being discussed in the parliament: 

– 

– 

– 

private import of snus for own use only will be restricted to 30 small boxes per 
trip 

private ordering of snus from the internet will be criminalized 

private selling of snus (e.g. to a friend) will be criminalized. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS  

In  order  to  implement  its  obligations  under  the  Accession  Treaty,  Sweden  has 
criminalized commercial export of snus and applies strict penalties. Export of snus is 
allowed only for travellers' personal use or as a gift for personal use. Distance selling 
of snus is illegal under the Swedish law, including online sales, when the recipient is 
in another Member State. 

5 

The  Ordinance  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  snus  (1994:1266)  and  the  Smuggling  Penalties  Act 
(2000:1225).  

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No  other  Member  State  reported  any  signs  of  snus  being  commercially  placed  on 
their  market.  However,  passenger  imports  is  common  and  snus  appears  to  be 
available  through  internet  throughout  the  EU.  No  data  exists  as  to  what  extent  the 
internet vendors of snus operate from the Swedish territory. 

Finland  plans  to  have  additional  preventive  measures,  such  as  restrictions  on 
passenger  imports  of  snus.  Other  Member  States  have  not  reported  any  measures 
additional to the marketing ban. 

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