{"id":9545,"date":"2026-04-24T10:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=9545"},"modified":"2026-04-24T14:39:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:39:25","slug":"swedes-still-face-400-tax-hike-on-pouches-with-eus-latest-ted-revision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/swedes-still-face-400-tax-hike-on-pouches-with-eus-latest-ted-revision\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedes still face 400% tax hike on pouches with EU’s latest TED revision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new compromise on revising the EU’s Tobacco Excise Directive (TED) has emerged. The latest TED revision would raise taxes paid by Swedish nicotine pouch consumers by 400 percent over current levels.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaked draft document reviewed by Snusforumet and dated 17 April 2026 calls for a minimum tax rate of \u20ac95 per kilogram that would be phased in by 2032.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While lower than the \u20ac143 per kilogram proposed in the European Commission\u2019s previous TED revision, the new levels still amount to a massive tax hike for Swedish nicotine pouch consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a compromise. It\u2019s the same mistake at a slightly lower price,\u201d says Patrik Str\u00f6mer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fundamental problem remains: nicotine pouches are being taxed on the same logic as cigarettes, despite being far less harmful. Why does the EU want to unfairly punish Swedish consumers who\u2019ve made a safer choice?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden currently taxes nicotine pouches at SEK 209 per kilogram. The new compromise rate of \u20ac95 per kilogram translates to approximately SEK 1,045 per kilogram at current exchange rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s lower than the roughly 650 percent hike Swedes would have faced with the original TED revision proposal, the compromise proposal would still entail a tax increase of around 400 percent compared to current levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden\u2019s Minister of Finance, Elisabeth Svantesson of the centre-right Moderate Party, called the previous proposal \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d<\/a>, promising the government would \u201ccontinue to fight for Swedish snus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also emphasised the importance of member states maintaining the ability to tax tobacco and nicotine products according to their relative harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf this is how the government fulfills its promise to fight for Swedish pouch consumers, it still has a long way to go,\u201d says Str\u00f6mer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requests sent to Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson’s office for comment on the new compromise text have so far gone unanswered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risk-based framework still missing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While Str\u00f6mer is open to EU-level harmonisation on tobacco and nicotine pouches, he believes any such framework should incorporate relative risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sweden, products are taxed according to the harm they cause. Deadly cigarettes are taxed more heavily than less-harmful smoke-free alternatives. This helps give consumers a price incentive that makes it easier for smokers to switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smoking tobacco is taxed at SEK 2,525 per kilogram, whereas traditional tobacco snus is taxed at SEK 435 per kilogram<\/a>, and nicotine pouches are taxed at SEK 209 per kilogram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While traditional tobacco snus is banned across the EU, it is allowed in Sweden under an exemption that also gives Sweden the freedom to tax it as it sees fit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Swedish model works because consumers have a clear economic incentive to choose a less harmful product over a deadly one,” says Str\u00f6mer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaxing nicotine pouches at five times the current rate moves in the opposite direction and risks making it harder for consumers to make the safer choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New TED revision \u2018absurd and mind-boggling\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Under the Cypriot Presidency’s compromise proposal, nicotine pouches would be taxed at approximately SEK 1,045 per kilogram \u2014 more than double the current rate for tobacco snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Think about what that means in practice,” he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sweden has a system that rewards consumers for choosing less harmful products. Under this proposal, a tobacco-free nicotine pouch would be taxed at more than twice the rate of tobacco snus. It\u2019s absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden currently has around five percent daily smokers \u2013 the lowest rate in the EU \u2013 a figure widely attributed to decades of access to affordable smoke-free alternatives. Meanwhile, the EU smoking rate sits at 24 percent, having fallen only four percent since 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Rather than study what works here and build a directive based on those lessons, Brussels is instead asking Sweden to dismantle the conditions that made our success possible,” Str\u00f6mer adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mind-boggling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is the Swedish government?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Str\u00f6mer, the compromise text also raises a harder question: why has Sweden not pushed more forcefully for a genuinely risk-differentiated approach?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019ve been calling for a TED revision framework with rates that reflect actual health risks. It\u2019s backed by evidence, has public support in Sweden, and is in line with the Swedish government’s own harm reduction principles,” he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But the ambition to keep up the fight seems to have faded if a 400 percent tax hike is as far as we can get.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest proposal, put forward by the Cyprus EU presidency, is an attempt to break a \u201cdeadlock<\/a>\u201d on how to proceed with revising the EU\u2019s TED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last updated in 2011, the TED establishes minimum excise duty rates for cigarettes and other tobacco products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revision would set minimum tax rates not only for cigarettes but also for novel products like vapes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TED revision was originally scheduled for 2022 in an attempt to help regulations keep up with a rapidly evolving market for tobacco and nicotine. The process was delayed due to economic instability and has since been caught up in difficult negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden was not the only member state to express opposition to the previous TED revision proposal over concerns about how the changes would impact consumers and the market for illicit trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swedish MEP reacts: ‘Things look grim’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Asked for comment on the latest TED revision, Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers of the far-right Sweden Democrats expressed concern over the state of the negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Things look grim,” he stated in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called the tax hike “completely unreasonable” and accused Swedish negotiators of failing to hold the line, fearing that other countries may also start to waver if Sweden fails to remain an “anchor of resistance”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weimers urged Swedish representatives in Brussels as well as in the finance ministry to “realise the seriousness of the situation”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They must clearly stand up for Sweden\u2019s line and make it clear that Sweden is prepared to veto the shock tax increase,” he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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