Trade in electronic cigarettes and refill containers

Sale of electronic cigarettes and refill containers

Retailers in Sweden who intend to provide electronic cigarettes and refill containers for consumers must notify their local municipality in order to do so. You also need to submit a self-monitoring programme in your notification. If you are a retailer outside of Sweden, you will find information about cross-border distance sales of electronic cigarettes and refill containers further down on this webpage.

Information about the self-monitoring programme can be found here (in Swedish) 

You shall also consider the following information when providing electronic cigarettes and refill containers to consumers in Sweden:

• Electronic cigarettes and refill containers may only be sold or provided to a person that is 18 years or older. At the point of sale, there must also be a clear and easily visible sign with information about the 18-year age limit.
  Decals for 18-year age limit can be found here.
• There are requirements regarding labelling and packaging of electronic cigarettes and refill containers.
  Information about these requirements can be found here.
• Electronic cigarettes and refill containers may only be provided to consumers if the product has fulfilled the product notification via EU-CEG to the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
  • Information about the product notification can be found here.
  • Publicly available information on electronic cigarettes and refill containers can be found here

Cross-border distance sales

What is considered as cross-border distance sales?

Cross-border distance sales is when a retail outlet, who has neither a registered office nor a business in Sweden, provides electronic cigarettes and refill containers to consumers in Sweden from another country via distance sales.

Registering information about cross-border distance sales
In order to conduct cross-border distance sales of electronic cigarettes and refill containers, retail outlets have to register information about such sales with the Public Health Agency of Sweden. The registration has to be confirmed by the Agency before such sales is allowed. We will confirm the registration promptly.

To facilitate the registration of cross-border distance sales, you can use the following form:

Registration form for cross-border distance sales of electronic cigarettes and refill containers

For the registration to be complete, you must also submit a self-monitoring programme.

You can submit the registration of your cross-border distance sales to the Agency by e-mail or mail.

• Email address: info@folkhalsomyndigheten.se
• Any of the following postal addresses:
  • Folkhälsomyndigheten (The Public Health Agency of Sweden)
    Enheten för produktkontroll
    Box 505
    831 26 Östersund
    Sverige (Sweden)
  • Folkhälsomyndigheten (The Public Health Agency of Sweden)
    Enheten för produktkontroll
    171 82 Solna
    Sverige (Sweden)

Changes in submitted registration or sales

If any information regarding your registration and/or sale changes, you must report it to the Public Health Agency of Sweden without delay.

Self-monitoring and self-monitoring programme for cross-border distance sales
Retail outlets who engage in cross-border distance sales of electronic cigarettes and refill containers must practice self-monitoring. They are responsible for ensuring that an appropriate self-monitoring programme exists and is enforced.

The purpose of self-monitoring and having a self-monitoring programme is that this will be a support for you when conducting this type of sales. The self-monitoring programme also serves as a checklist on the requirements stated by law. It is yourself who carries out the monitoring. This means, among other things, that you shall operate an age verification system that verifies, at the time of sale, that your staff do not sell electronic cigarettes to a person who has not reached the age of 18.

For guidance on what a self-monitoring programme should include, see the link below. The guidance contains special sections for those who intend to get engaged in or already is with respects to cross-border distance sales.

Guidance for self-monitoring programmes for the sale of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and refill containers. (in Swedish)

Personal data in cross-border distance sales

Retail outlets who engage in cross-border distance sales of electronic cigarettes and refill containers shall not disclose personal information about the consumer to the manufacturer of such products, companies forming part of the same group of companies or to other third parties.

Personal data shall not be used or transferred for purposes other than the actual purchase.

Control purchase

In order to provide a basis for a dialogue between the municipality and a trader of electronic cigarettes and refill containers about the obligation to ensure that the recipient has reached the age of 18, the municipality may conduct control purchases. The municipality may only hire a person over the age of 18 to conduct a control purchase.

A control purchase may be conducted without the trader being notified in advance. The municipality shall notify the trader of the control purchase as soon as possible after a completed control purchase. A control purchase may not be used as the basis for an administrative sanction.

If the sale violates the rules

If the sale of electronic cigarettes and refill containers violates the rules for sale, the municipality and the Public Health Agency of Sweden may issue injunctions or prohibitions, in the course of their supervision. In decisions on junctions or prohibitions, the supervisory authority may impose a fine.

The regulations on which this information is based

• Chapter 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the Act (2018: 2088) on tobacco and similar products (in Swedish)

You always have an obligation to know what applies by law. The information on this website is intended solely to serve as an aid to you and does not replace what is stated in the law. There may also be other laws or regulations of other authorities that you need to be aware of. The Public Health Agency of Sweden continuously updates the content, but we cannot guarantee that the information on the site is always completely up to date.