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EU's snus lawsuit against Denmark a reality

The Local Denmark
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EU's snus lawsuit against Denmark a reality
Photo: Christian Jensen/Flickr"

Despite earlier failed attempts, the government may once again try to get a ban on snus approved in parliament now that the EU's long-threatened lawsuit has arrived.

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The Foreign Ministry has been served with a lawsuit form the EU Commission over Denmark’s failure to stop the banned sale of snus, the ministry has reported. 
 
The EU Commission is demanding that Denmark stop selling snus, an oral tobacco product that is banned in the EU under the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), and is also calling for Denmark to foot the bill for all legal costs in the case. 
 
Denmark was first warned two years ago to stop selling snus or face legal action. The government has tried but failed to forbid the sale of snus, and now the legal suit is underway. 
 
According to Finans, the Health Ministry is now considering how the government should react to the lawsuit and whether to try to push another bill to ban snus through parliament. 
 
Leading opposition party Venstre took the legal action in stride. 
 
“We will ask the government what they have in mind, but as a basic principle we continue to hold the same viewpoint which is that the sale of snus is something that should be decided at the national level,” Venstre’s Jakob Ellemann-Jensen told Finans. 
 
Under EU rules, only Sweden is granted permission to sell snus, due to that country’s status as a snus producer. The loose form of snus is currently legal in Denmark, but the sale of the more common packaged snus is banned under the TPD.
 

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