Sweden’s healthcare minister has publicly vowed that Sweden will defend tobacco harm reduction at COP11 amid tense and ongoing negotiations in Geneva. But the actions – or inactions – of the Swedish delegation have raised doubts about its commitment to supporting the government’s position.

On Wednesday, Sweden’s Minister for Healthcare Elisabet Lann issued a statement indicating that Sweden’s support for tobacco harm reduction would remain firm in the face of opposition from other EU Member States at COP11.

“In the negotiations, the government has acted on the basis of well-known Swedish positions, previously anchored in the Riksdag, on the importance of adopting a harm reduction perspective in work on tobacco issues,” she said in a statement published on the website of the Swedish Parliament.

The statement was her official response to a question posed the previous week by Sweden Democrat MP Tobias Andersson, who wanted to know if and how the Swedish delegation intended to protect the Swedish stance during COP11.

It also comes following revelations first reported by Snusforumet that Sweden had failed to stand up to proposals with language that supported a ban on safer nicotine products, directly contradicting Swedish policy and a previous agreement among EU Member States that such bans were off the table.

Swedish government: pro-harm reduction

Lann went on in her statement to explain that the delegation was also “clarifying the scientifically demonstrated differences in the harmful effects of different tobacco and nicotine products”.

“Sweden has also worked to ensure that the negotiations ahead of COP11 do not pre-empt future negotiations on the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive,” she added in her statement, emphasising that protecting Sweden’s current exemption from the EU snus ban was an “important general starting point” for negotiations.

The new statement echoes what Lann said weeks earlier on the floor of Swedish parliament, where she promised Sweden would defend harm reduction and the role of snus.

“The harms from snus use are significantly lower than those from smoking. This is a position we promote in all contexts where we have the opportunity to do so,” she said at the time.

Swedish COP11 delegation: not so much?

Despite Lann’s repeated promises, the actions of the Swedish delegation on the ground in Geneva suggest Sweden has not been as steadfast in promoting harm reduction as Lann suggests.

First, Sweden’s COP11 delegation failed to actively oppose a proposal from Brazil, the Maldives, Panama, and Thailand that supported banning novel nicotine products, including nicotine pouches. 

Furthermore, the delegation also failed to voice any support for a pro-harm reduction measure submitted by St. Kitts & Nevis.

The Caribbean nation had put forth a proposal to establish a working group on harm reduction, an approach closely mirroring Sweden’s own ongoing evidence-gathering efforts.

Yet while EU delegates negotiated the St. Kitts proposal on November 19th, sources with close knowledge of the matter tell Snusforumet that Sweden remained silent, ailing to speak up in support of an amendment in line with its own policy.

Instead, delegations from other countries spoke up and threw their support behind the suggestion of creating a harm reduction working group tasked with gathering more evidence about its potential impact on public health.

No comment, no answers

When asked to explain the disconnect between Lann’s statements and the Swedish delegation’s actions, press secretary Sarah Hummerdal at first tried to claim that Lann’s comments were not related to COP11 but stemmed from a “debate in another setting”. 

“What the minister was saying was from parliament and not directly connected to this issue,” she told Snusforumet

Hummerdal could not say whether or not the delegation planned to support the government’s own policy

When asked to confirm whether the Swedish delegation planned to reject the proposal from Brazil that opened the door for banning of less harmful products, Hummerdal could not say whether or not the delegation planned to support the government’s own policy.

“We will not comment while negotiations are ongoing,” she said.

“I cannot give you any more information at this time.”

Paula Ericson, the head of the Swedish delegation at COP11, was also unable to confirm whether or not she and her colleagues would stand up and reject language in support of a ban that goes against not only Swedish policy but also against the position negotiated by EU Member States ahead of COP11.

“I don’t comment in the media, she told Snusforumet.

“All media contacts go through Elisabet Lann.”