As PM Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government made efforts to reduce the use of addictive nicotine pouches by young people, it banned a number of flavours that could be in the pouches that were considered attractive to youths.
Parliament approved the legislation earlier this month. Last year, it was reported that the availability of nicotine pouches, which do not contain tobacco, had dramatically reduced smuggling of oral tobacco products from Sweden.
Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported on Tuesday that the government decided to permit nicotine pouch flavours produced by a Stockholm-based company, a move it suggested may have been prompted by lobbying efforts.
Citing external information, the paper alleged that a number of pouch flavour varieties produced by Strengberg's Habit Factory were included in the legislation at the behest of government partner the Swedish People's Party (SPP).
Habit Factory recently started up a nicotine pouch production factory in the Swedish-speaking town of Jakobstad.
Jakobstad (Pietarsaari in Finnish) is home to the former chair of the SPP, Anna-Maja Henriksson, who is currently serving as an MEP.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, in mid-April the government agreed to include four extra flavours not banned in the nicotine product legislation. In addition to the exempted flavours of mint and menthol, it added rosemary, tea, ginger and wood flavours to the list.
Some other flavours under consideration were not included.
Earlier this week, newspaper Iltalehti reported that Habit Factory's Finnish-owned competitor, Valo Sweden, was concerned about the tobacco product law.
Valo Sweden's CEO, Timo Nurminen, told the paper that Habit Factory is the only firm that manufactures pouches with those four exempted flavours.
"These flavours are only made by one company in the world, Habit Factory, which, interestingly enough, opened a factory in Pietarsaari this year. These flavours are made there," he told the paper.
Henriksson, Grahn-Laasonen explain
Yle's Swedish-language news unit, Svenska Yle, called Henriksson about the matter. The former education minister said she wanted to offer her version of what occurred.
"After the government negotiations, it was clear that the [banned] flavours list would be changed. The company had also given a list of its flavours to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and we also knew about them," Henriksson told Svenska Yle.
She pointed out that her party saw the legislation as a matter of countering the black market and boosting tax revenue.
According to Henriksson, only allowing mint and menthol flavours would prompt people to get nicotine pouches from abroad, resulting in lost potential tax revenue. Nicotine pouches are also quite popular in Sweden.
Henriksson said she was surprised that the social affairs and health ministry did not reach a solid decision on what flavours were considered meant for "adults", other than specifically stipulating which flavours were permitted and which were not.
She said that the government reviewed a number of nicotine pouch flavours and that all four parties in the coalition agreed on which ones were approved.
Svenska Yle asked Henriksson whether it was a coincidence that the company marketing those specific flavours happens to be located in her hometown, Jakobstad, where the SPP has strong support.
"This company could be located in Helsinki, Kuopio or Rovaniemi. As a matter of principle, the Swedish People's Party had the same opinion about this. We wanted to open up the discussion about flavours because we wanted to counteract the grey economy. We wanted Finland to get more tax revenue instead of it going to Sweden. In the worst case, it would lead [people] to sell on the black market, which would have negative consequences," Henriksson told Svenska Yle.
Henriksson said discussions about the matter have strayed from the main issue of which flavours should be permitted, and too much focus has been directed at the company being based in Jakobstad.
"It's a little sad, because if I would have been from Helsinki, I would certainly have had the same opinion on the substantive issue, regardless of where the company was based," she said.
Meanwhile Social Security Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen (NCP), who leads the ministry responsible for the nicotine product legislation, said that she only recommended that two flavours (mint and menthol) be included in the exempted flavours list during the formulation of the law.
"During the budget negotiations, the SPP wanted to open up the already existing agreement and submitted a long list of demands for new flavours," she told Yle.
In the end, the other three government parties – the Finns Party, the Christian Democrats and the National Coalition Party – agreed to SPP's demands to include the additional flavours of rosemary, tea, ginger and wood.
Grahn-Laasonen said that the NCP was not aware of where the list of suggested exempted flavours came from.
"My team and I have refrained from meeting and receiving lobbying from actors in the tobacco and nicotine industry. It is a conscious decision and based on the interpretation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control," Grahn-Laasonen said.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
