Swedish Match is challenging the EU’s ban on the sale of snus in the European Court of Justice but is receiving no support from the Swedish government. 

Patrik Strömer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers, explains to the opinion newswire Svenska Nyhetsbyrån how Swedish snus has become subject to discrimination in the EU.

“Snus was banned in the EU in 1992 when they did not know what it was and Sweden was not an EU member state,” he told SNB. 

“When we joined, an exception was made in the accession treaty, so in Sweden you will always be allowed to sell snus as long as the government and parliament do not decide otherwise. 

“It may be manufactured anywhere but may not be sold anywhere else in the EU apart from in Sweden. This case is about whether the EU has taken decisions that it is not allowed to make, specifically by discriminatíng against a product in the internal market.” 

READ MORE: The whole interview (in Swedish) is here.