The Dutch government is considering bringing tobacco free nicotine pouches under a complete market ban motivated by the protection of minors. Even if the NNPA fully agree with the implied target to ensure that minors should not consume any nicotine products we consider a ban of nicotine pouches disproportionate and ineffective.
There are many products and services in society that are not intended to be used by minors. For a consumer product these often reasonable restrictions are usually handled by means of a control system to ensure limited availability. Making a whole product group illegal is usually reserved for quite extreme deficiencies such as inherent fire hazards, choking risks or other severe risks.
It is clear that nicotine is addictive and that using nicotine is in itself connected to some health risks, but nicotine is not an illegal substance. It can be consumed in many different ways and there are numerous products and a very large number of consumers with different preferences.
A specific ban of an arguably less harmful way of consumption should be considered counterproductive from most perspectives, not the least the Dutch government’s own policy target to make the Netherlands smoke free until 2040. The member states that have the lowest statistics for what part of the population that are daily smokers are the countries where oral nicotine could be considered a traditional product. Sweden, who has the lowest statistics of all at 5,6%, less than a quarter of the EU average, has a strong tradition with oral nicotine products. .
There are other concerns besides the obvious contradiction in banning a less risky product in an existing market. A ban will lead to contraband and “under the counter sales”. A well-regulated market leaves less demand for these often sub-par and by definition unregulated and uncontrolled products. Someone already selling banned products would have less reason to follow other rules or recommendations, such as an age limit.
The NNPA supports a number of legislative measures including a ban on sales and marketing to minors. We believe that manufacturing, sales, and marketing should be kept to the highest of standards in order to achieve the targets set out by the Dutch government. We strongly discourage applying simplistic solutions like a ban that exclusively would have negative impact on the hundreds of thousands of users that is the present group of Dutch users that has made an arguably less risky choice for their nicotine consumption.