Bulgaria's Commission for Consumer Protection says it has pulled 280 boxes of nicotine pouches off the market after finding them in courier shipments. Checks followed a tip-off from the Customs Agency.
Inspectors checked a logistics centre and warehouses run by two courier firms in Bulgaria, one large and one smaller. The shipments, sent this year, were addressed to individuals. Two men handled the deliveries, one from Gabrovo and one from Sofia, and the commission has now ordered both to stop selling the pouches.
Samples were tested at the Central Customs Laboratory, which found they contain tobacco. Because of that, the commission classes them as "tobacco for oral use", no matter what they are called or sold as "nicotine pouches". Selling such a product is banned under Article 17 of EU Directive 2024/40 and Article 31 of Bulgaria's law on tobacco and related products.
The commission has told the Customs Agency in writing that this type of product cannot be sold in Bulgaria and that legal action needs to be taken.
It has also written to every courier firm in the country, telling them not to let banned and dangerous products move through their networks. The commission says firms must follow the law and must not help spread such products, since doing so breaks the rules that protect people's health.