Are Nicotine Pouches Legal in the Netherlands? — Banned Since January 2025
Nicotine pouches have been banned in the Netherlands since 1 January 2025. Here’s the current legal picture.
Short answer: nicotine pouches are banned in the Netherlands. That ban took effect on 1 January 2025.
The ban, explained
Nicotine pouches are prohibited in the Netherlands. Oral tobacco (except chewing tobacco) has long been banned in the country, and nicotine pouches were brought under a ban from 1 January 2025.
Suppliers and importers are still expected to notify products through the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG) system, run by the Dutch public health institute RIVM — but the commercial sale of nicotine pouches to consumers is not lawful.
Enforcement and retail
Because the sale of nicotine pouches is banned, they are not lawfully available from Dutch retailers. Any advice that they are sold openly in shops is incorrect.
The Dutch government is active on enforcement in this category. Authorities have targeted non-compliant sales of nicotine and tobacco products across the country.
The EU angle
There is a possible path to reversal. If an updated EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) provides for nicotine pouches, the Netherlands would need to justify its national ban if it wants to keep it. This is why the EU-level discussion matters for anyone tracking the Dutch market — but as of now, the ban stands.
SOURCES:
- TobaccoIntelligence, “Netherlands: oral tobacco and nicotine pouch regulation,” Apr 2025: https://tobaccointelligence.com/netherlands-oral-tobacco-and-nicotine-pouch-regulation-april-2025/
- RIVM — supplier notification via EU-CEG: https://www.rivm.nl/en/tobacco/information-for-suppliers/frequently-asked-questions
- Business.gov.nl — selling tobacco in the Netherlands: https://business.gov.nl/regulations/sales-tobacco/
Where to buy: Compare prices across retailers at PouchFinder.
Before the ban
Until the 2025 prohibition, nicotine pouches sat outside tobacco law entirely — regulated only as ordinary consumer products. Only pouches with a very low nicotine content (max 0.035 mg per pouch) were legally sellable, and they were sold in supermarkets, tobacconists, convenience stores, petrol stations and online.