According to a document seen by the Swedish media, the EU aims to raise the price of Swedish snuff products significantly. The leaked EU Commission proposal is scheduled to be published in early December.
Veera Pennanen,
Elsa Osipova
The European Union is trying to pressure Sweden to raise the price of snuff products significantly.
This is evident from a leaked document from the EU Commission, which Swedish afternoon newspaper Aftonbladet (you will switch to another service) has seen.
The document presents proposals for a new excise tax on tobacco products.
According to Aftonbladet, the document proposes, among other things, to raise the excise tax on tobacco products to 134 euros per kilo. Currently, the finished tax is around 40 euros.
If the commission’s proposal is implemented, the price of bag snuff would increase by around 34 kroons, i.e. three euros, and of loose snuff by around 64 kroons, i.e. almost six euros, says Swedish public broadcasting company SVT (you switch to another service).
This would mean that a snuff puck would cost an average of more than 120 kroner in Sweden in the future, i.e. about 11 euros.
The EU banned the sale of snuff and chewing tobacco in its territory in 1992, but made an exception for Sweden when it joined the EU in 1995.
10 years ago, in December 2012, the EU introduced a new tobacco directive. Approved by the European Parliament (you will switch to another service) in 2014. The directive prohibited, among other things, the use of flavorings.
According to SVT, the tobacco directive has so far had little effect on Swedish snuff consumers.
Data from the Swedish Public Health Authority (you will switch to another service) according to an estimate, every fifth man aged 18–84 used snuff daily in 2021. Six percent of women in the same age group used snuff daily.
The representatives of the Swedish snuff industry have harshly criticized the leaked EU Commission’s proposal. Instead, the Swedish ministers have so far not commented on the proposal planned by the EU to raise the snuff tax.
According to Aftonbladet, the commission is scheduled to publish the proposal in the first week of December.
Sweden, on the other hand, begins its half-year term as the EU presidency at the turn of the year. The negotiations and presentations are timed for Sweden’s presidency, Aftonbladet sums up.