EU rules permitting the sale of chewing tobacco do not extend to products that are primarily intended for sucking, the European Union’s top court ruled on Wednesday in response to a German case.
Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plant.
The plant is part of the genus Nicotiana and of the Solanaceae family.
While more than 70 species of tobacco are known, the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum but the more potent variant — N. rustica — is also used around the world.
A German company, Guenter Hartman Tabakvertrieb, was banned by the southern town of Kempten from importing two products, Thunder Chewing Tobacco and Thunder Frosted Chewing Bags.
They were banned on the grounds that they were not primarily intended for chewing or inhaling.
The company challenged the decision and German courts asked the European Court of Justice for help in interpreting EU rules.
Under EU law, oral tobacco is banned, with the exception of products intended to be inhaled or chewed.
Sweden alone has an exemption for its snus, a special type of oral tobacco.
The Luxembourg-based court found that the approval granted to chewing tobacco can only cover products that release their essential ingredients by being chewed.
Tobacco products that are intended for sucking – releasing their essential ingredients merely by being held in the mouth – are therefore not covered, even if they can also be chewed.
The Bavarian administrative court handling the case must now assess which of these definitions applies, weighing up the composition, consistency, dosage and actual use of the products and therefore whether the ban can stand or not.
dpa/NAN.