Finland: Committee Proposes Ban on Snus: Blames Sweden

HELSINGIN SANOMAT
INTERNATIONAL EDITION

Finland, December 19, 2008

A committee on tobacco policy set up by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to review a potential reform of the Tobacco Act handed in its report to Minister of Health and Social Services Paula Risikko (National Coalition Party) on Thursday.

The report proposes a number of amendments, including a complete ban on passenger imports of smokeless tobacco or snus.

In order to reduce smoking among young people, the committee also proposed banning the display of tobacco on open shelves, selling tobacco products by vending machines, and criminalising the sale of tobacco to minors. Sponsorship by tobacco companies would also be outlawed.

The proposal for banning snus entirely is a response to Sweden’s failure to prevent the use of smokeless tobacco from spreading, reports Ilkka Oksala from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
”The use of snus has become popular particularly among young people in Finland”, Oksala adds.

The sale of smokeless tobacco is prohibited in all other Union member states with the exception of Sweden and its territorial waters.

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