Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lifting the ban on Snus products.

No evidence has been collated by the Department as snus is banned under the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive as an oral tobacco product. The Commission has however set out the evidence underpinning the ban. The impact assessment for the 2014 Directive can be found at the following link:

https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/tobacco/docs/com_2012_788_ia_en.pdf

The Government committed in the Tobacco Control Plan for England to review where the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU offers us opportunities to re-appraise current regulation to ensure this continues to protect the nation’s health. We will look to identify where we can sensibly deregulate without harming public health or where current EU regulations limit our ability to deal with tobacco. The Government’s goal will remain to achieve a proportionate approach to managing risk, one which protects the young and non-smokers, whilst giving smokers access to products which will reduce harm.