The future of Nicotine Pouches in the EU: This is what the ENPA says at InterTabac 2026

How should the EU deal with nicotine pouches in the future? Should it ban the products, regulate them strictly, or tax them? And if so, how heavily? These questions were at the heart of the presentation “The uncertain future for Nicotine pouches in Europe” at InterTabac 2026 in Dortmund. On 16 September, Jonas Lundqvist and Robert Casinge from the European Nicotine Pouches Alliance (ENPA) spoke there about the future of nicotine pouches in Europe. Lundqvist is the Managing Director of ENPA, and Casinge is the Editor-in-Chief of its platform Pouchforum.eu. The main focus was on what regulation could look like if it is to strengthen youth protection without making access to the products more difficult for adult consumers.

Who is ENPA?

The European Nicotine Pouches Alliance (ENPA) is a Brussels-based industry association that describes itself as a non-profit organisation.¹ It represents companies that manufacture or distribute Nicotine Pouches and says it is committed to responsible regulation of these products.² Its members include British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International.¹ The organisation was originally founded under the name “Nordic Nicotine Pouches Alliance (NNPA)”.¹

What ENPA is calling for

How should Nicotine Pouches be regulated in the future? ENPA is calling for rules that protect minors while still allowing adults access to the products. This includes a scientifically justified maximum limit for the Nicotine content and taxes based on the risk of the respective product. The organisation sees well-regulated Nicotine Pouches as a possible alternative for adult smokers. ENPA also believes there should be limits when it comes to packaging. Product names like “Bubblegum” or comic-style designs should be avoided if they could appeal primarily to young people.

Should the EU regulate Nicotine Pouches differently from cigarettes?

Should the EU regulate nicotine products differently depending on their health risk, or set similar rules for all of them? This question was at the core of the presentation. ENPA distinguishes between two approaches here. “Risk-based” means that the rules are based on the specific risk of a product. “Risk-blind”, on the other hand, refers to an approach in which the differences between products are barely taken into account. ENPA supports the risk-based approach. According to this view, the EU should regulate Nicotine Pouches according to their own characteristics and not simply treat them the same as cigarettes. The organisation believes a ban would be the wrong path and refers here to the concept of Harm Reduction. The aim is to reduce health risks by encouraging smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives, without requiring complete abstinence.

“Harm reduction cannot work if the lowest-risk products are regulated out of the legal market.”

The key question is therefore no longer whether Nicotine Pouches should be regulated, but how. However, there are also concerns about this approach. Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, warns that in Europe, an epidemic of nicotine dependence could replace declining smoking rates if legislation is not updated in time. In this context, the European Commission points in particular to the so-called gateway effect. This refers to the concern that the use of nicotine pouches could lead young people in particular to start smoking cigarettes later on.³ The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) also points to health risks.

In a 2022 study, it found tobacco-specific nitrosamines, carcinogenic compounds, in some of the tested Nicotine Pouches. These substances are formed from nicotine and related compounds in tobacco. They can end up in Pouches if the nicotine was extracted from tobacco leaves, even if the Pouches themselves do not contain any tobacco. In several other products, however, they could not be detected. The BfR concludes from this that these substances can be avoided technologically.⁴ The BfR sees particular risks for children, adolescents, and non-smokers, as nicotine can be addictive. For smokers, however, switching completely from cigarettes to nicotine pouches could be a way to reduce health risks.⁴ However, nicotine's addictive potential remains.

Nicotine Pouches and cigarettes under the microscope

What happens next? Minimum tax and public consultation

What’s next for nicotine pouches in the EU? Two ongoing procedures are particularly important here: the revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED) and the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). While the TED governs taxation, the TPD deals with product regulation. Both procedures are still ongoing, and the ENPA views the developments critically. You can read more about this in the article TED and TPD: What InterTabac 2026 reveals about the future of tobacco and nicotine pouches.

Read the article

The minimum tax: Why the proposal is controversial

The European Commission wants to introduce an EU-wide minimum tax for Nicotine Pouches for the first time. Member states would then no longer be able to tax the products below this minimum level. The proposal from July 2025 provides for taxes to be increased gradually. From 2032, the tax must amount to at least 50 percent of the retail price or, if a country levies it by weight, 143 euros per kilogram.⁵ However, this has not yet been decided. The planned tax level in particular is causing debate. Since the member states in the Council of the EU must agree unanimously, even a single country can block the proposal. Sweden has so far rejected the proposed tax rates. The ENPA also considers them too high. Lundqvist and Casinge cite an estimated 52 percent decline in the legal sales of Nicotine Pouches. This figure also appears in the EU Commission's impact assessment, which assumes a 52 percent decline under the highest tax level examined.⁶

EU public consultation: What the ENPA criticizes

There is also criticism of the planned revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. Before the EU Commission presents a new proposal, it gathers feedback from citizens, companies, and associations. There was a call for feedback ("Call for Evidence") that ended on June 15, 2026, with more than 80,000 submissions. At the same time, a public consultation by the Commission was running until August 14, 2026.⁷ The ENPA questions the process:

"The question is whether the evidence-gathering process is genuinely open or collecting support for conclusions already reached."

Specifically, it criticizes the fact that the survey groups together different age groups and products. For example, all 10- to 24-year-olds are considered together under "young people," and cigarettes, heated tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and Nicotine Pouches are not sufficiently distinguished from one another. According to the ENPA, the EU Commission's Directorate-General for Health (SANTE) acknowledged that the survey was not designed to differentiate products according to their respective risk. According to the ENPA, consumer organizations have referred the process to the European Ombudsman, who examines complaints about the EU administration. The Commission's proposal is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.⁷ How it will assess the feedback and what rules the Commission will propose is still open.

Ban or regulate? How four countries are dealing with nicotine pouches

What happens if Nicotine Pouches are banned completely? The speakers explore this question based on the strategies of different countries. Their thesis is: "prohibition does not remove demand". Within the EU, France has banned Pouches, while Poland is planning restrictions on flavors. Outside the EU, Australia has prohibited the legal purchase and import of nicotine pouches. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, is opting to regulate the products instead of banning them completely.

Country outlines in front of nicotine pouches

Europe: France and Poland

France has completely banned Nicotine Pouches and other nicotine products for oral use. Since April 1, 2026, not only sale but also manufacture, transport, import and export, possession, distribution, purchase, and use have been prohibited. Exceptions include, among other things, medicines and medical devices.⁸ The ENPA criticizes the fact that cigarettes are still legally available in France. In the organization’s view, the ban does not sufficiently take into account the different risks of the products.

According to a draft law in Poland, only Nicotine Pouches that smell or taste like tobacco would be allowed in the future. The ENPA considers this approach contradictory. Nicotine Pouches do not naturally have a tobacco taste. Manufacturers would therefore have to add an artificial tobacco flavor in order to continue selling their tobacco-free products. Since product regulations also affect trade with other EU countries, Poland must notify the European Commission of the draft law before adopting it. According to the ENPA, several countries have submitted detailed comments on it, including Sweden, Romania, Slovakia, Italy, and Greece. This extends the standstill period during which Poland may not adopt the regulation until November 6, 2026.

The ENPA sees such differing national regulations as a problem. They could create legal uncertainty for companies. It also raises the question of how far individual member states are allowed to restrict the free movement of goods within the EU internal market.

Australia: Ban in place since July

Since July 24, 2026, consumers in Australia have no longer been able to legally buy or import Nicotine Pouches. Previously, this was possible under certain conditions via pharmacies, with a prescription, or through private imports from abroad. The Australian medicines authority, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), justifies the stricter rules with the health risks of the products, their potential appeal to young people, and the risk of nicotine addiction. The head of the TGA, Professor Anthony Lawler, explains:

“These changes respond to growing public health concern about nicotine pouches and their increasing availability in the Australian market."⁹

How can you measure whether a ban is effective? The TGA focuses on protection against health risks and nicotine addiction. The ENPA, on the other hand, points to the illegal market for nicotine products in Australia. According to its figures, 95.7 percent of the e-cigarette products sold in Australia were illegal. The black market for e-cigarettes is estimated at 1.6 billion Australian dollars, and in 2025, 80 percent of the nicotine consumed came from illegal sources. These figures come from the period before the ban on Nicotine Pouches. The ENPA acknowledges that this does not allow any definite conclusions about how the market for Nicotine Pouches will develop after the ban. But they are a warning. If products that, in its view, carry a lower risk are removed from the legal market, demand does not simply disappear. Its conclusion is:

“…illicit supply grows when adult demand is forced outside lawful, regulated channels.”

What impact the ban in Australia will actually have will only become clear over time.

United Kingdom: Rules instead of a ban

The ENPA describes the British approach as follows: “tight regulation of nicotine pouches without pretending they carry the same risk as cigarettes”. This approach is also reflected in the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which was passed on 29 April 2026. In England, a minimum age of 18 will apply to all nicotine products from 29 October 2026.¹⁰ Further measures are currently still government proposals. For Nicotine Pouches and e-cigarettes, it is planning, among other things, white packaging, standardized shapes, simplified flavor names, and a uniform indication of Nicotine strength. The presentation of products in stores is also set to be regulated. The public consultation on these proposals ran until 2 October 2026. What the final rules will look like has not yet been decided.¹¹ In addition, the ENPA mentions restrictions on images as well as warning notices and “18+” labeling.

When will new rules apply? The road to 2030

When could new rules for Nicotine Pouches apply in the EU? The ENPA outlines the possible path through the European legislative process. First, the European Commission gathers feedback through a consultation and develops a proposal, for example for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU then discuss it. In Parliament, this first happens in committees and later in plenary. In the Council, the member states represent their positions. If the Council and Parliament agree on a regulation, it may then still need to be transposed into national law. The ENPA wants to encourage the industry to get involved in this process at an early stage. To support this, it has presented a timeline through to 2030 and pointed to two European Parliament reports which, in its view, could already influence later regulation.

How the European Parliament is already influencing the rules for Nicotine Pouches

The European Parliament is already dealing with topics that could be relevant to the future regulation of nicotine pouches, even before the Commission presents its concrete proposal. How can a report that does not directly deal with nicotine pouches at all influence their future regulation? According to the ENPA, such reports shape the political debate by defining terms, lines of argument, and negotiating positions. The organization is therefore monitoring the report on cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and the report on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (BECA).

In the CVD report, the ENPA sees a development toward a more differentiated approach that makes clearer distinctions between different products. In the BECA report, on the other hand, it fears that tobacco products and newer nicotine products will once again be treated largely the same. In its view, what matters is how both reports address topics such as youth protection, flavors, packaging, advertising, pre-market authorization, and taxation. The ENPA sees both reports as possible signposts for future regulation. They could influence which positions Parliament takes before the Commission presents its proposal.

The ENPA timeline: Five steps to 2030

How long it could take until new EU rules are introduced is described by the ENPA using a five-stage timeline . In 2026, the EU will review the existing rules, in 2027 an impact assessment will follow, in 2028 new proposals are expected, in 2029 political decisions are due, and in 2030 the new rules could come into force. However, as described above, the EU Commission is already planning its proposal for revising the Tobacco Products Directive for the fourth quarter of 2026. So this timeline only shows what the ENPA expects; it is not a fixed EU schedule.

From the ENPA’s perspective, the period up to November 2026 is especially crucial. During this phase, core principles could take shape that may later be incorporated into the new regulation. The organization is focusing in particular on three questions: Will Nicotine Pouches be treated differently from cigarettes when it comes to maximum nicotine levels, flavors, packaging, and advertising? Will the planned minimum tax be based more closely on the respective risk of each product? And will the European Parliament recognize the differences between the various nicotine products?

Steps from 2026–2030

Conclusion: A lot is still undecided

What will happen next with nicotine pouches in the EU has not yet been decided. At the end of 2026, the Commission wants to present its proposal for revising the Tobacco Products Directive. Feedback from citizens, businesses, and associations will feed into the impact assessment that will accompany the proposal. Nothing has been decided on the minimum tax either. The amount is still being debated, and because the member states in the Council of the EU must agree unanimously, a single country can block the proposal. Whether Nicotine Pouches should be regulated like cigarettes or according to their own risk is viewed differently. The ENPA wants adult consumers to remain able to buy Nicotine Pouches legally. The EU Commission and the BfR are primarily focused on young people and non-smokers. Meanwhile, individual countries, both inside and outside the EU, are already taking their own approach. Which regulation ultimately works better, for example when it comes to youth protection or curbing illegal trade, remains to be seen.