Poland publishes unified tobacco law banning nicotine pouch sales to minors

The Marszałek Sejmu has published the consolidated text of Poland’s tobacco-control act, extending it for the first time to nicotine pouches alongside e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. The announcement, signed on 1 September 2026, appears in the Dziennik Ustaw of 16 September 2026 as item 1214. The uniform text reflects the legal state as of 27 August 2026.

The announcement was issued under art. 16(1) of the Act of 20 July 2000 on the promulgation of normative acts, and consolidates the Act of 9 November 1995 on health protection against the consequences of using tobacco and tobacco products, previously published at Dz. U. 2024 poz. 1162. It incorporates two amendments: the act of 21 February 2025 (Dz. U. poz. 427) and the act of 21 May 2025 (Dz. U. poz. 799). The act implements Directive 2014/40/EU of 3 April 2014 on the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products.

Nicotine pouches brought into the act’s scope

A new definition covers “woreczek nikotynowy” as any oral product, other than those intended for inhalation, that contains no tobacco but contains nicotine, portioned into pouches. Pouches are classed as a “related product” and are now subject to the same core restrictions as cigarettes:

• Art. 6(1) bans making tobacco products, nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes or refill containers available to persons under 18, and requires a visible notice in every retail outlet.
• Art. 6(4) bans their sale in vending machines; art. 6(6) bans self-service displays, except in duty-free shops.
• Art. 7f bans distance selling, including cross-border distance selling.
• Art. 6(3) bans marketing them on the premises of healthcare providers, education-system units and sports and recreation facilities.

Flavour ban and product requirements

Art. 7c prohibits the marketing, production and import of tobacco products with a characteristic flavour, and separately bans flavourings in any component — filters, paper, packaging and capsules — as well as technical features allowing the taste or smell of a product to be altered. Filters, paper and capsules may not contain tobacco or nicotine.

For nicotine pouches, art. 11hb sets a maximum nicotine content of 20 mg/g, bars additives listed in art. 7c(3) and forbids ingredients that increase nicotine dependence. Packaging must carry the warning “Ten wyrób szkodzi Twojemu zdrowiu i powoduje uzależnienie”, occupying 30 % of the two largest surfaces. Producers and importers must send the Prezes Biura do spraw Substancji Chemicznych a list of all ingredients, by brand and type, at least six months before marketing, and pay an annual fee. Comparable limits apply to e-cigarettes (20 mg/ml of nicotine, 10 ml refill containers, 2 ml cartridges) and to cigarette emissions (10 mg tar, 1 mg nicotine, 10 mg carbon monoxide).

Enforcement, penalties and transition

Compliance checks on businesses fall to the Inspekcja Handlowa under art. 11j. Sanctions include:

• Up to 200 000 zł or restriction of liberty for marketing non-compliant nicotine pouches or failing to submit the ingredient list (art. 12c).
• Up to 500 000 zł for using additives that increase nicotine dependence in production (art. 12b).
• Up to 2 000 zł for selling to minors or failing to display the under-18 notice (art. 13(1)).
• Administrative fines of 1 000 to 100 000 zł imposed by the Prezes Biura for reporting failures (art. 15a).

The transitional provisions attached to the 21 May 2025 amendment, which entered into force on 5 July 2025, allowed nicotine pouches to remain in vending machines and self-service systems for no longer than six months, required the ingredient list within six months, and let pouches not meeting the new requirements stay in circulation for no longer than six months.

The consolidated text gives retailers, producers and importers a single reference point for rules that were previously scattered across three separate acts. For consumers, the practical effect is that nicotine pouches now sit alongside cigarettes and e-cigarettes in the same prohibition regime, with the under-18 ban, the vending-machine and self-service bans and the flavour restrictions all carrying enforceable fines.

Source: Dziennik Ustaw, 16 September 2026, Section I, item 1214 (official reference: Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1214).