Finland looks to ban capsules

The Finnish government is expected to ban the inclusion of flavor capsules as part of a new Tobacco Act, according to an Esmerk Finnish News story.

The ban will take effect on May 20, 2016, if the government approves the bill.

The same Act will prohibit, in line with the EU Tobacco Products Directive, the sale of menthol cigarettes from May 2020.

Laura Terho, a lawyer at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, was quoted as saying that sales of cigarettes with flavor capsules would be banned quickly because they were ‘clearly utilized to attract minors to start smoking’.

The market share in Finland of cigarettes with flavor capsules has risen to 5-7 percent in five years.