{"id":4901,"date":"2020-06-05T10:50:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=4901"},"modified":"2021-04-12T12:30:41","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T10:30:41","slug":"swedens-inaction-on-snus-in-brussels-unethical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/swedens-inaction-on-snus-in-brussels-unethical\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden\u2019s inaction on snus in Brussels \u2018unethical\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The independent Snus Commission has taken the Swedish government to task for its inaction on snus in Brussels and failure to inform the EU about the public health benefits of snus.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more proactive approach could have helped remove the EU\u2019s ban on snus, the group argues in a new debate article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Sweden had become politically involved when the snus issue was last raised in the European Court of Justice in 2018, the matter could have been settled,\u201d they write in an article published in the Altinget newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sale of Swedish snus has been banned in the EU (formerly EC) since 1992. However, Sweden was granted an exception from the ban when it joined the EU on 1 January 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The historical reason for the ban was that snus was previously thought to be carcinogenic and a gateway to smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, we know that snus is not carcinogenic. And we know that the most relevant perspective is how to encourage people to switch from cigarettes to snus, not the risk of the opposite,\u201d the commission writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden has done too little<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Snus Commission<\/a>, an independent commission that produces reports about Swedish snus. The opinion piece is authored by Snus Commission chairman Anders Milton, together with three other members, Kinna Bellander, Karl Fagerstr\u00f6m, and G\u00f6ran Johansson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They argue that Sweden has also done too little to inform other EU countries about the public health effects of snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This in turn had left the snus ban in place while the matter was fought in court<\/a>, thus denying citizens in other EU countries access to a a less harmful alternative to carcinogenic cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSweden’s political representatives don\u2019t seem to want to ask the question: \u2018Why shouldn\u2019t Sweden\u2019s pattern of tobacco consumption — more snus and less cigarettes — be allowed in the EU when WHO figures show it would save more than 350,000 human lives per year<\/a> across the union?\u2019\u201d the Snus Commission writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group also notes that it was illogical for the EU to approve of e-cigarettes, despite the fact that there is not as much research on how that product affects health as there is on snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apply the harm reduction principle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Sweden, we are happy to have Europe’s lowest tobacco-related mortality<\/a>. But we do not seem to want to think about why this is the case, despite the fact that we consume tobacco at levels comparable with other EU countries,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reason is, of course, that we use more snus and smoke less. But if we say this, it\u2019s almost unethical to then not to actively push in the EU to lift the ban on snus sales.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrik Str\u00f6mer, head of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers, agrees with the Snus Commission’s conclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSweden can, and should, do much, much more to make other EU member states realise the health benefits that can be achieved by applying the principle of harm reduction<\/a> in practice,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are individual Swedish EU politicians who have pushed the issue of snus in Brussels, but Sweden must take a more active and collective role in this. Human lives are at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The independent Snus Commission has taken the Swedish government to task for its inaction on snus in Brussels and failure to inform the EU about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[254,218],"tags":[258,251,271,252],"class_list":["post-4901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","category-regulations","tag-eu-2","tag-harm-reduction-2","tag-snus-ban","tag-snus-commission"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSweden\u2019s inaction on snus in Brussels \u2018unethical\u2019 - Snusforumet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Snus Commission has criticised Sweden for its inaction on snus in Brussels and failure highlight the public health benefits of snus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/swedens-inaction-on-snus-in-brussels-unethical\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sweden\u2019s inaction on snus in Brussels \u2018unethical\u2019 - 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