Estonia wants to cap nicotine pouches at 4mg per gram — the same limit Finland introduced — but the bill has hit a wall inside the government.

On 13 August 2026, Economy Minister Erkki Keldo formally declined to approve the draft amendment to Estonia's Tobacco Act, sending it back for revision. The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, would cap nicotine pouches, strips and sprays at 4mg/g, restrict flavours to tobacco and menthol from a government-approved ingredient list, and ban all distance sales of nicotine products. It is not dead — but it cannot move forward without Keldo's sign-off, and he wants major changes.

What the bill would do to pouches

The draft targets nicotine pouches directly, alongside strips, sprays and heated nicotine sticks:

• 4mg/g nicotine cap. The limit is set as concentration — 4mg of nicotine per gram of pouch mixture — not per individual pouch. The government says it modelled the cap on neighbouring Latvia's rules.
• Tobacco and menthol flavours only. Pouches could not contain flavours other than tobacco or menthol, and only substances on a fixed government list would be permitted — 16 ingredients for tobacco flavour, 8 for menthol. Fruit, sweet and other flavours would be banned.
• No stimulants or absorption enhancers. Vitamins, caffeine, taurine and other stimulants would be prohibited, along with ingredients that facilitate nicotine absorption or suggest health benefits.
• Distance sales banned. Ordering or selling nicotine products online or by mail would become an offence. Companies could face fines up to €200,000; individuals up to 300 penalty units.
• Lobbying disclosure. Public officials, MPs and local councillors would have to disclose meetings with tobacco-industry lobbyists.

The rules are planned to take effect on 1 January 2028, giving manufacturers time to reformulate and retailers time to sell existing stock.

Why the economy minister blocked it

Keldo's objection is not ideological — his ministry says it supports protecting children and curbing illegal sales. His argument is that the bill is poorly prepared and its impact unexamined.

The 4mg/g cap, Keldo wrote, is justified in the explanatory memorandum solely by pointing to Latvia — without any comparative analysis of other EU member states or explanation of why Latvia's model is best for Estonia. The memorandum does not say how many products or businesses would be affected, what proportion of the current market would comply, or what the cap would mean for Estonian manufacturers, exports and employment.

He also flagged the flavour restriction: the bill bans everything except tobacco and menthol from an approved ingredient list, but does not explain why those specific substances are suitable or what it would cost businesses to reformulate. And he asked the government to assess the bill's alignment with the upcoming EU tobacco and nicotine framework update — the broader Brussels overhaul whose consultation closed in August 2026.

Most pointedly, Keldo demanded an analysis of substitution behaviour — whether consumers whose preferred pouches disappear would switch to unregulated products or other tobacco and nicotine products, undermining the bill's own public-health goal.

The black-market concern is shared

Keldo is not the only official raising red flags. The Prosecutor's Office wrote to the Justice Ministry noting it is unclear whether compliant low-strength products will reach the market in time to replace those removed — and warned that consumers could be pushed toward illegal or unregulated alternatives.

The Interior Ministry flagged enforcement gaps: if individuals buy large quantities abroad and resell them through parcel lockers, violations are nearly impossible to trace. Foreign online sellers shipping into Estonia are also beyond the reach of Estonian misdemeanor procedures.

Even the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority noted that the existing vape flavour ban already has a workaround — water-pipe vapor-stone flavourings that contain the same base components as e-liquids but are not legally classified as e-cigarette liquids.

What the numbers look like

Government data shows the proposed rules would gut the current market:

• Only about 20% of nicotine products currently on sale in Estonia already meet the proposed requirements.
• Roughly 60% would need to be reformulated.
• Nearly 20% would have to be pulled from the market entirely.

The explanatory document cites a specific example: a passion fruit nicotine pouch sold in Estonia containing 50mg of nicotine per gram — 12.5 times the proposed limit. That single product illustrates how far the cap sits from what is currently on shelves.

Why Estonia is acting

The Ministry of Social Affairs says nicotine experimentation now starts at around age 11 — down from 15 or 16 previously — and that nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes are the most common entry products. A 2021–2022 survey found that 29.2% of 11-to-15-year-olds had tried a vape.

The government frames the bill as child protection. Aive Telling, head of environmental health policy at the Ministry of Social Affairs, acknowledged that new restrictions could fuel black-market growth but said it is not inevitable. "The black market requires constant active attention," she told ERR.

What's next

The bill needs Keldo's approval to advance through the legislative process. His letter asks the drafting ministries to expand the impact assessment, add EU comparisons, analyse substitution effects, and assess the flavour restrictions' cost to businesses. Until those revisions are made, the draft is effectively on hold.

If it does pass — even in revised form — Estonia would join Finland, the Netherlands and France among EU countries that have moved to cap pouch strength or restrict flavours. The proposed 2028 start date gives the market time to adapt, but with 80% of products currently non-compliant, the adaptation would be significant. The economy minister's intervention means that the version that eventually reaches parliament may not be the one that was drafted.

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SOURCES:

• ERR (Estonian Public Broadcasting), "Economy minister rejects proposed restrictions on nicotine products." 13 Aug 2026. ERR
• ERR, "Estonia's plan to tighten nicotine rules sparks black-market concerns." 30 Jul 2026. ERR
• Clearing the Air, "Estonia proposes vape flavour ban and 4mg/g nicotine pouch limit." 30 Jul 2026. Clearing the Air