Can I buy Snus in the United Kingdom?

Are nicotine pouches legal in the UK?

Nicotine pouches are absolutely legal in the UK. In fact, most major tobacco companies make and sell nicotine pouches in the UK, in addition to a number of leading Scandinavian companies. There are also a small number of smaller UK based manufacturers. Interestingly, nicotine pouches are not currently regulated as tobacco products, as they don’t contain any tobacco. But instead they have to comply with The General Product Safety Regulations 2005. These we most recently been updated as of January 2021.

What is Snus and it is legal in the UK?

Snus and nicotine pouches are similar. Snus has been around for nearly 2 centuries in Sweden. It is basically small pouches with tobacco in them. Nicotine pouches are a more recent thing, small pouches with plant fibres infused with nicotine. Snus is not legal to sell in the UK, but nicotine pouches are. It is however, perfectly legal to use Snus in the UK, just not to sell it.

Can I buy Snus in the UK?

Despite ample evidence from Sweden that Snus, even though it is a tobacco product – it is a less risky alternative when compared to cigarettes, it is still illegal to sell Snus in the UK.

Can I buy Snus from other countries and ship it to the UK?

Following Brexit, given the new risks around tobacco excise and health warning language, a large number of online Snus retailers have stopped selling Snus to the UK, so it has become increasingly more difficult to buy Snus and have it sent to the UK. There may still be some companies that will sell in the UK, and these are likely to pass on the risk of excise tax payments and VAT to their customers in the UK. If you know anyone in Sweden, you could of course ask them to purchase Snus in Sweden and send it to you privately. Luckily, we offer next-day delivery on all of our nicotine pouches.

Is there a way around buying Snus in the UK?

Given the current situation, we are unable to sell Snus on our website. If the situation does change (although it seems unlikely), we fully intend to make Snus available on our website, along with our great selection of nicotine pouches. We are unlikely however to change our domain name!

One benefit of Brexit may be that the UK government no longer has to comply with how the majority of EU countries want to treat Snus (it’s completely banned across the EU with the exception of Sweden). In fact, there was a time when we thought the day that you can be buying Snus legally in the UK would never happen, but precisely because of Brexit, that may well be about to change.

Will Snus be made legal after Brexit?

In June of 2020, it was reported that in response to a question from Labour, Jo Churchill, a Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds, said that the UK government “… will consider in due course reviewing the position on Snus and whether the introduction of this product onto the UK market would promote a proportionate approach to managing risks … whilst giving smokers access to products which may reduce harm”

However, my personal opinion is that this is a typical politician answer, not really saying one way or another, but not wanting to seem open to all options. Given that nicotine pouches are legal, and they satisfy all of the beneficial health arguments of Snus, to me it seems unlikely that the UK government will change the legal status of Snus.