{"id":371298,"date":"2026-09-08T16:04:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=371298"},"modified":"2026-09-08T16:04:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:34:36","slug":"nicotine-pouches-and-their-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/nicotine-pouches-and-their-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicotine Pouches and Their Regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News: <\/strong>A new ICMR-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research study found that nicotine pouches are reaching Indian cities through online platforms, hookah shops and gig delivery services.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Nicotine Pouches and Their Regulation<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 329px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTAWBxsyAUE1yyTpFvDOIReTFT197px5MfeCKj6_HZSQQ&amp;s=10\" alt=\"Nicotine pouch \" width=\"329\" height=\"219\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>About Nicotine Pouch:<\/strong> It is a<strong> small, tobacco-free, tea-bag-like sack <\/strong>containing <strong>nicotine, favourings and plant-based fibres.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Note:<\/strong> <span class=\"yADgie\" data-copy-service-computed-style=\"font-family: &quot;Google Sans&quot;, Arial, sans-serif, &quot;Noto Color Emoji&quot;; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 0px rgb(10, 10, 10);\">Nicotine is a<strong> highly addictive chemical compound<\/strong> found <strong>naturally in the tobacco plant and used in products<\/strong> like cigarettes, vapes, and nicotine pouches.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Users<\/strong> place the <strong>pouch between the lip and gum for up to an hour, allowing nicotine to be absorbed<\/strong> directly into the bloodstream without smoke, vapour or spitting.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong data-start=\"418\" data-end=\"434\">Regulation of Nicotine Pouches:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA):<\/strong> It governs the <strong>marketing, advertising and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Since<strong> nicotine pouches are not among the products listed in the Act,<\/strong> they <strong>fall outside<\/strong> it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940:<\/strong> Nicotine is <strong>not specifically listed<\/strong> as a <strong>drug<\/strong> under the Act. However, <strong>nicotine patches and gums are approved as drugs<\/strong> for <strong>treating nicotine addiction<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li data-section-id=\"w1pq66\" data-start=\"2616\" data-end=\"2798\"><strong>Schedule K<\/strong> <strong>of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945<\/strong> <strong>exempts certain nicotine gums and lozenges<\/strong> containing <strong>less than 2 mg of nicotine<\/strong> from licensing and prescription requirements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and the Food Safety and Standards Act: <\/strong>It defines food as <strong>any processed, partially processed or unprocessed substance intended for human consumption.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Court rulings on supari and chewing tobacco establish<strong> that the <\/strong><strong>definition has a very wide amplitude,<\/strong> encompassing items that are<strong> chewed rather than swallowed. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is arguable, then, that nicotine pouches could fall within the broad definition of food.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Import Regulations: <\/strong>The import of nicotine pouches into India is governed by the <strong>Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992<\/strong> and the <strong>Customs Act, 1962<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Foreign Trade Act<\/strong> empowers the Central Government to prohibit, restrict or regulate imports.<\/li>\n<li>Under <strong>Section 11 of the Customs Act<\/strong>, <strong>1962 <\/strong>the government can prohibit or restrict goods through notification on grounds including the protection of human, animal or plant life.<\/li>\n<li>Following the <strong>World Customs Organization\u2019s update of the Harmonized System<\/strong>, specific categories were introduced for oral nicotine products that do not involve combustion:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2404 91 30<\/strong> covers <strong>tobacco-free, single-use nicotine pouches such as Zyn or Lyft.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>2404 91 90<\/strong> covers other <strong>oral nicotine products not intended for therapeutic use.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Medicament codes apply only to products<\/strong> specifically intended as <strong>nicotine-cessation aids<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Under the <strong>DGFT schedule and CBIC rules<\/strong>, products under <strong>2404 91 30 are classified as \u201crestricted\u201d<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>This means nicotine pouches are <strong>not completely banned<\/strong>, unlike e-cigarettes, but they <strong>cannot be imported freely by merely paying customs duty<\/strong>. They require a <strong>specific licence or permission<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In deciding whether to permit such imports, the <strong>DGFT may consult the Health Ministry and other concerned ministries<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Regulation for<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Duty-free shops:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Nicotine pouches are<strong> currently available at some duty-free shops<\/strong> at Indian airports, which operate under <strong>Section 58 of the Customs Act<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>In<strong> <em>Flemingo Duty Free Shop Pvt. Ltd. v. Shri Kaushik Bhattacharya (2024)<\/em>,<\/strong> the Calcutta High Court held that <strong>duty-free shops are treated as being outside India for certain purposes<\/strong> under th<strong>e Customs Act and therefore do not \u201cimport\u201d goods into India.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>However, <strong>Indian laws and regulations still apply<\/strong> to duty-free shops.<\/li>\n<li>As nicotine pouches are classified as <strong>restricted goods<\/strong>, their sale requires the necessary <strong>import licence or permission<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: A new ICMR-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research study found that nicotine pouches are reaching Indian cities through online platforms, hookah shops and gig delivery services. About Nicotine Pouches and Their Regulation About Nicotine Pouch: It is a small, tobacco-free, tea-bag-like sack containing nicotine, favourings and plant-based fibres. Note: Nicotine is a highly&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/nicotine-pouches-and-their-regulation\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Nicotine Pouches and Their Regulation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1760,12039],"tags":[11872,10498],"class_list":["post-371298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-polity-and-nation","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}