Spain’s attack on pouches could see 99% of the market banned
13th Dec 2024
Almost all nicotine pouches will be banned, if a Royal Decree in Spain is passed.
The decree on the regulation of tobacco and related products, which include nicotine pouches and vapes, proposes that there be a ban on all flavours except tobacco and that the nicotine limit in pouches be reduced to less than 1mg per pouch.
A limit of less than 1mg per pouch amounts to an effective ban, as it would see 99% of pouches on the market disappear.
Anyone with any knowledge of the market will tell you that there are no popular products with a nicotine level as low as this.
Popular pouch brands come in various nicotine strengths usually between 3 and 20mg. There are products with nicotine levels higher than this, but levels up to 20mg are adequate for the majority of consumers.
Pouches and other products like them are only as good as smokers’ willingness to use them. Smokers attempting to switch are not going to get the nicotine they need using a 0.99mg per pouch.
“If the argument is that a 1mg pouch is equivalent to a cigarette, that argument is wrong. There can be between 8 and 20mg in a single cigarette and up to 400mg in a pack of 20,” explains Emma Ophus Lantz, Head of European Affairs at Pouch Patrol.
A ban on all flavours except tobacco is equally nonsensical. It would decimate the vape market, as most vapers use flavours. No ex-smoker wants to be reminded of the product that they are trying to stay away from – the cigarette!
“There have been bans on flavours before and we have seen the real-world impact of that, which has been an increase in the black market and an increase in smoking” according to Ophus Lantz.
The Ministry of Health in Spain opened a public hearing which closed Friday 13th December. More information can be found on Anesvap’s website.
