Next week, EU Ministers will meet to discuss how to change the tobacco directive. The Swedish Minister for Trade Ewa Björling hopes to convince her colleagues that the present legislation is not logical. She claims the Swedish snus is less dangerous than for example Pakistani snus and French chewing tobacco which is already legal. Björling said to the Swedish radio:
- The big difference between Swedish snus and other snus which is already on the EU market is that the Swedish brands are manufactured in another way. It has lower content of dangerous substances such as nitrosamine and benzoin.
The Swedish government claims the ban on snus violates the principles of the inner market. They do however want tougher control of tobacco products and more scientific analysis of the contents. All eight parties in the Riksdag are behind the government’s attempts to lift the ban.
Read also: Sweden wants the EU to legalise snus
*Snus is a powder tobacco that is put under the lip. During the Swedish membership negotiations with the EU in the early 1990s, an exception from the EU ban on snus was obtained.