Background:

Use of snus and snus-like nicotine products is increasing, in particular among young people, in several Nordic countries and Estonia, while snus is legally on the market only in Sweden and Norway. Snus is available in a great variety of tastes and packaging particularly catering for young users. Recently, strong snus-resembling nicotine pouches have emerged on the market. This research investigates the regulatory means to counteract this development.

Methods:

European Union (EU) and national tobacco control legislation, case law of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and relevant public health studies are analysed.

Results:

The research finds that the judgement of the CJEU relating to the sale of snus on Finnish ferries has not been enforced. Permitted large traveller imports for personal use have contributed to wide availability of snus in Finland. Even if the legislation in Sweden is in conformity with the exemption it obtained in the Accession Treaty, the public health impact of snus use for young people in its neighbouring countries has become considerable. Nicotine pouches, -which are not regarded as medical products in terms of medicine legislation, lack harmonised EU-wide regulation. Controlling smuggling across open borders is challenging.

Conclusions:

The legislation at the EU and national levels should be able to protect young people from new tobacco and nicotine products. It is urgent to harmonise regulation relating to new tobacco and nicotine products taking as a base a high level of protection of health as required in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

中文翻译：

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跨越北欧边境的鼻烟和鼻烟样尼古丁产品：法律可以保护年轻人吗？

背景：

在几个北欧国家和爱沙尼亚，鼻烟和类似鼻烟的尼古丁产品的使用正在增加，特别是在年轻人中，而鼻烟仅在瑞典和挪威合法上市。鼻烟有多种口味和包装，特别适合年轻用户。最近，市场上出现了类似鼻烟的强力尼古丁袋。本研究调查了抵制这种发展的监管手段。

方法：

分析了欧盟 (EU) 和国家烟草控制立法、欧洲法院 (CJEU) 判例法和相关公共卫生研究。

结果：

研究发现，欧洲法院关于在芬兰渡轮上出售鼻烟的判决尚未得到执行。允许个人使用的大量旅客进口有助于芬兰鼻烟的广泛供应。即使瑞典的立法符合其在《加入条约》中获得的豁免，但使用鼻烟对其邻国年轻人的公共卫生影响已经相当大。尼古丁袋在药品立法方面不被视为医疗产品，缺乏统一的欧盟范围内的法规。控制跨越开放边界的走私具有挑战性。

结论：

欧盟和国家层面的立法应该能够保护年轻人免受新型烟草和尼古丁产品的侵害。迫切需要协调与新烟草和尼古丁产品相关的法规，以按照《欧盟运作条约》的要求，以高水平的健康保护为基础。