EU To Target Pouch Tax
Haypp Group’s Mark O'Mahoney has contacted Planet of the Vapes about a leaked EU document proposing a major tax increase on nicotine pouches in the European Union
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by Dave Cross
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Haypp Group’s Mark O'Mahoney has contacted Planet of the Vapes about a leaked European Union document proposing a major tax increase on nicotine pouches across the EU states. He tells us it shows how some states are pushing their agenda on pouches and perhaps indicates a broader direction of travel.
Mark tells us that a secret document seen by the team at Haypp reveals the EU's plans to drastically increase the tax on nicotine pouches, or ‘white snus’ as it is sometimes called.
“The tax increase could be over 500%, and it may be introduced as soon as in the next few months. Thankfully, since Brexit, the UK is not subject to EU laws and is not obliged to introduce this tax hike.”
Markus Lindblad, Head of External Affairs at Haypp, said: “This is absurd. The EU is trying to introduce massive taxes on an alternative nicotine product that is less harmful than cigarettes. For example, as recently as last year, Sweden's politicians decided to lower taxes on nicotine pouches and snus and raise it on cigarettes, but this is now being completely overturned by the EU. Sweden's tobacco policy has resulted in the country having the lowest proportion of smokers in Europe. The proposed EU tax hikes will undermine Sweden’s successful anti-smoking policy.”
Haypp says the current rate of tax levied on nicotine pouches is just over €19/kg, but the proposal contained within the leaked document shows it will rise to over €125/kg.
“The tax increase means that the price of nicotine pouches in the EU will rocket by over 60 percent,” the company adds.
“The document is a negotiated proposal for an update of the common EU regulations for taxes on tobacco and nicotine products. Haypp has chosen to publish the document in its entirety on its Swedish website.”
The document forms part of the EU's ongoing legislative work. It is producing the next iteration of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD3) and the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED).
Recently, several member states have been pushing for stricter regulation of nicotine pouches. Countries have introduced national bans and restrictions and have been pushing for the policies to be rolled out across the Union.
Markus Lindblad added: “The fact that countries such as the Netherlands and Finland want to export their zero tolerance to the rest of Europe is a direct threat to both consumer choice and public health in the EU. Thankfully, pouch users in the UK do not need to worry about these shock taxes, as they are no longer subject to EU laws, but they should be aware of how some governments in Europe are pushing their nanny state agendas.”
References
- EU Plans Massive Tax Hike on Nicotine Pouches - https://www.haypp.com/uk/nicopedia/news/leaked-massive-tax-hike-on-nicotine-pouches
- Proposal for a Council Directive on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to tobacco and tobacco related products (recast) - https://media.snusbolaget.se/snusbolaget/files/Leaked%20EU%20document.pdf
Photo Credit:
Pouch photo by Rob Warner on Unsplash, EU map https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_map_of_the_European_Union.png
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
