Apr 16, 2020
Ban on menthol tobacco products: what is it and how will it affect you?
On May 20, 2020, an important legislative change will come into effect:
The sale of certain menthol tobacco products will be banned in Spain and the rest of the European Union. However, menthol heated tobacco, used with IQOS, will not be affected by this ban. There is a degree of confusion about this among IQOS users, which is why we have decided to provide the information below.
Following European Directive 2014/40/EU relating to tobacco products, transposed in Spain by Royal Decree 579/2017 of June 9, the sale of tobacco products with characterising flavors was banned in Spain and throughout the European Union on January 1, 2016. But the ban on menthol products was postponed to give its broad consumer base more time to adapt to the change.
When the ban comes into effect on May 20, 2020, it will no longer be possible to sell any of the products affected by it in either Spain or the rest of the European Union.
Which products will be banned and which ones won't?
As of May 20, it will not be possible to buy or sell menthol cigarettes, cigarettes with menthol-flavoured capsules or menthol rolling tobacco.
Menthol-flavoured heated tobacco units that are used with IQOS, and other menthol tobacco products, such as small cigars, cigars, pipe tobacco, and waterpipe tobacco, will continue to be sold in the usual places.
Does it affect the heated tobacco units you use with IQOS?
No. The new ban does not affect the sale of the menthol heated tobacco units used with IQOS: they will still be sold in the varieties currently available.
For more information, check with your regular tobacconist or outlet, or call us toll free on 900 152 015 (available Monday through Friday, from 9AM to 9PM, and weekends from 9AM to 6PM, one hour less in Canary Islands).