Court of Justice rejects Swedish Match bid to overturn European snus ban

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has upheld the ban on the sale of snus which has applied since 1992 in the whole EU except Sweden, which was granted an exemption under the 2014 Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).

The judgement follows the advice of advocate general Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe, who last April issued an opinion stating that the prohibition was valid.

The ECJ ruling states that “tobacco products for oral use are particularly dangerous for minors because of the fact that their consumption is hardly noticeable”. It puts an end to the case started by manufacturer Swedish Match in 2016 with the aim of getting the Europe-wide snus ban overturned.