Tobacco control

If you notice a repeated violation of the smoking ban, first contact the owner of the space or outdoor area or the organizer of the public event or his representative, e.g. an orderly. If your contact does not lead to an end to smoking in the no-smoking area, you can contact the health protection authority, occupational safety authority or the police during office hours and the police outside office hours.

The owner of the space or outdoor area or the organizer of the public event is responsible for compliance with the provisions of the Tobacco Act regarding the smoking ban. They must intervene in the violation of the tobacco law in an indoor or outdoor area without delay.

The tobacco seller is responsible for not selling tobacco products or smoking equipment to people under the age of 18. If you notice that tobacco products or smoking equipment are being sold at the point of sale to people under the age of 18, contact the health protection authority or the police.

The sale of tobacco products and nicotine liquids is subject to a permit. The sales permit is processed by the health protection authority of the municipality where the sales place is located. The sales permit is subject to a fee. The retail sale of tobacco products may not start until the municipality has granted the trader a sales permit. Tobacco products cannot be bought wholesale before the municipality has granted a sales permit.

A retail license is approved if the conditions required by the Tobacco Act are met and the application is accompanied by a self-monitoring plan for the sale of tobacco products and the placement of tobacco products and smoking equipment at the point of sale meets the requirements of the Tobacco Act.

The sales license must be kept visible to customers at every point of sale of the tobacco product. Changes in the number and location of sales points, as well as information on the holder of the sales license and the point of sale, must be reported to the health protection authority, who will update the information in the retail sales license register of tobacco products maintained by Valvira.

The sale of tobacco products and smoking equipment is prohibited to persons under the age of 18. The sales prohibition notice must be displayed at the tobacco point of sale.

The sale of snuff in Finland is prohibited. Chewing tobacco, snuff and tobacco intended for use in the mouth may not be sold or otherwise given away or passed on.

Putting nicotine liquids on sale

The holder of a retail sales license, whose license was granted before 15.8.2016 August XNUMX (under the old Tobacco Act), may also sell nicotine liquids at the same point of sale, after making a written notification about the matter and submitting an updated self-monitoring plan and a report on the number and location of points of sale. A fee according to the tax is charged for the processing of notifications. The sale of nicotine liquids affects the size of the annual monitoring fee.

The Tobacco Act became stricter on May 1.5.2022, 2023, and the self-monitoring obligation of sellers expanded to monitor the legality of products in addition to age limit monitoring. The purpose is that the entire sales chain participates in product control more effectively than before and that illegal products are not sold to consumers. Business operators must update their current self-monitoring plans by the end of April XNUMX.

The trader must make sure that the sales packaging of the products on sale complies with the law (for example, brands and logos are prohibited) and that the notifications required by the Tobacco Act have been made on the products on sale. The trader checks From Valvira's public product search, whether the notifications have been properly made.

You will get more information From Valvira's website.