Åland agrees to EU demand to end sales of smokeless tobacco on its ships
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The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that Finland has failed to implement European Union legislation on tobacco by allowing the sale of smokeless tobacco on ships registered in the semi-autonomous Åland Islands.
The ruling forces Åland to make changes to the province’s legislation on tobacco. Åland plans to pass the necessary amendment later this year.
Sweden is the only EU country to have been granted the exceptional right - for cultural reasons - to allow the sale of orally administered tobacco, which is banned in the rest of the EU as being addictive, and a major health hazard. The Swedish-speaking Åland Islands have a smokeless tobacco tradition that parallels that of Sweden.
Åland laments that car and passenger ferries registered in the Åland Islands and operating between Finland and Sweden will now find themselves at a disadvantage to those registered in Sweden, which will continue to sell the products in their on-board duty-free shops.
Helsingin Sanomat
