Product requirements on cigarettes
Cigarettes must meet set product requirements when provided to consumers on the Swedish market. For example, products must not have characterising flavor, and a unit packet must must include at least 20 cigarettes.
Product requirements
Product requirements regulates the content, emission and packaging of cigarettes. You as a manufacturer or importer are responsible to ensure that the product are compliant with these product requirements.
Content requirements
Cigarettes must not contain:
- Vitamins or other additives that create the impression that a product has a health benefit or presents reduced health risks.
- Caffeine, taurine or other additives or stimulant compounds that are associated with energy and vitality.
- Additives that have colouring properties for emissions.
- Additives that facilitate inhalation or nicotine uptake.
- Additives that have carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction properties in unburnt form.
- Flavourings in any of their components such as filters, papers, packages, capsules or any technical features allowing modification of the smell or taste of cigarettes or their smoke intensity.
- Tobacco or nicotine in filters, papers or capsules.
We can, on the basis of scientific evidence, prohibit the placing on the market of cigarettes containing additives in quantities that increase the toxic or addictive effect, or the carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction properties of a product at the stage of consumption to a significant or measureable degree.
Prohibition of cigarettes with a characterising flavour
It is prohibited to provide cigarettes with a characterising flavour on the Swedish market. Characterising flavour is a clearly noticeable smell or taste other than one of tobacco, resulting from an additive or a combination of additives, including, but not limited to, fruit, spice, herbs, alcohol, candy, menthol or vanilla, which is noticeable before or during the consumption of the tobacco product.
The prohibition of cigarettes with a characterising flavour does not exclude the use of additives which are essential for the manufacture of the product provided those additives do not result in a product with a characterising flavour and do not increase to a significant or measureable degree the addictiveness, toxicity or the carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction properties of the product.
There is a procedure that we use when determining whether or not cigarettes has a characterising flavour:
Determination of characterising flavours in tobacco products (health.ec.europa.eu)
Emission requirements
The emission levels from cigarettes available on the Swedish market or manufactured in Sweden must not be greater than:
- 10 mg of tar per cigarette.
- 1 mg of nicotine per cigarette.
- 10 mg of carbon monoxide per cigarette.
Packaging requirements
A unit packet of cigarettes must:
- Include at least 20 cigarettes.
- Have a cuboid shape and may consist of carton or soft material and must not have an opening that can be re-closed or re-sealed after it is first opened, other than the flip-top lid and shoulder box with a hinged lid. For packets with a flip-top lid and hinged lid, the lid must be hinged only at the back of the unit packet.
