Retail of products subject to the Tobacco Act
Tobacco products, nicotine-containing liquids and smokeless nicotine products may be sold or otherwise handed over for retail only based on a permit issued by the municipality where the sales outlet is located. The permit is specific to the sales outlet and the permit holder. For questions concerning the permit, you can contact the municipal authority supervising the Tobacco Act in the first instance.
In addition to the retail permit, the retail permit holder must have the identification codes required by the traceability system for the wholesaler to sell tobacco products to the permit holder. You can read more about this on page Prevention of illicit trade.
The municipal authority supervising the Tobacco Act must be notified in advance of changes in operations and the termination of operations. This information may have an impact on the control fees charged by the municipality, so the information must be submitted to the municipality in good time. The municipality charges a fee according to the approved rate for the processing of a retail permit for tobacco products, nicotine-containing liquids and smokeless nicotine products, or for the processing of a notification concerning the retail of nicotine-containing liquids or smokeless nicotine products. If you have any questions regarding the fees, you can contact the municipality in which the sales outlet is located.
For its part, the municipality must notify Valvira of the granting and cancelling of a permit, changes to a permit, sales violations, and the discontinuation of sales.
Submit a retail permit application to the municipality. The simplest way is to submit the application electronically. Fill in the electronic retail permit application here (in Finnish). If you cannot submit your application electronically, you can use the written permit application at the end of this page. Instructions for filling in the permit application can also be found at the end of this page.
You can also submit a change notification in electronic services. Select the change notification form to fill out if you already have a valid retail sales permit. You can use the change notification form to notify of the cessation of sales activities or changes to them (for example, notification of expansion to the sale of nicotine liquids and/or smokeless nicotine products, notification of a change in sales points, or notification of a change in the name or contact information of the sales outlet).
With the amendment to the Tobacco Act which entered into force on 1 August 2025, the retail sale of smokeless nicotine products was regulated as subject to a permit. For example, nicotine pouches are smokeless nicotine products. Smokeless nicotine products are also tobacco substitutes. The retail sale of other tobacco substitutes is not subject to a permit. Read more about the characteristics of smokeless nicotine products here.
The conditions for issuing a permit are as follows:
- the applicant is of legal age
- the applicant submits an acceptable self-monitoring plan
- there are none of the impediments listed below to the granting of the permit.
A permit cannot be granted if:
- the operation referred to in the application is apparently contrary to the Tobacco Act
- the municipality is unable to control the sales outlet
- a retail permit granted under the Tobacco Act has been permanently revoked from the applicant within the last two years
- the sales outlet is located
- in the indoor area of a daycare centre or a family daycare centre, or in the outdoor area of a daycare centre;
- in the indoor or outdoor area intended for persons under 18 years of age in an institution providing treatment based on the Child Protection Act or the Mental Health Act;
- in the indoor area of an educational institution providing basic education, vocational education or general upper secondary education, or in a student dormitory, or in the outdoor area used by such an educational institution.
The public register of retail permits and wholesale notifications for tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids (in Finnish) is a register intended for use by citizens and wholesalers. Citizens can check in the register whether a retailer of tobacco products, nicotine-containing liquids and smokeless nicotine products has a valid sales permit in accordance with the Tobacco Act. The sales outlet’s permit information can be found in more detail in the sales permit document, which the retailer of tobacco products, nicotine-containing liquids and smokeless nicotine products is obliged to display at each point of sale at the sales outlet.
The public sales permit register also serves the information needs of wholesalers. Wholesalers may only sell tobacco products, nicotine-containing liquids or smokeless nicotine products to wholesalers who have submitted a wholesale notification for resale and to retail permit holders who have indicated that they resell the products concerned. Wholesalers can check this information in the register of retail permits and wholesale notifications.
Frequently asked questions about retail
An operator who has a retail permit for tobacco products granted under the previous Tobacco Act may also sell nicotine-containing liquids and smokeless nicotine products at the same sales outlet after:
- a written notification to the municipality that granted the permit has been submitted
- the municipality has been provided with an update on the information required for granting the permit.
If an operator has a valid retail permit and it wants to sell smokeless nicotine products, the municipality must be notified of the change in the information provided in the previous permit application. For some retailers, the inclusion of smokeless nicotine products in the retail permit may increase the annual supervision fee charged by the municipality.
Economic operators selling smokeless nicotine products who did not have a valid retail permit for tobacco products or nicotine liquids before the amendment in the Tobacco Act and who want to continue retailing nicotine pouches must apply for a sales permit from the municipality where the sales outlet is located.
The municipality grants a retail permit in accordance with the Tobacco Act. For all questions related to the permit, you can contact the municipality that granted the permit.
The municipality charges a fee for processing the permit application or notification, as well as an annual control fee from the sales permit holder or wholesaler (see question 4). The amount of the fees can be found in the tariff list of the municipality, and questions related to the fee can be submitted to the municipality processing the permit application or notification.
The amount of the control fee for the permit can be found in the tariff list of the municipality that issued the permit. According to the Tobacco Act, an annual control fee may be charged up to 500 euros per point of sale for either tobacco products or nicotine-containing liquids, or up to 1.000 euros per point of sale for both tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids.
According to the amendment to the Tobacco Act that entered into force on 1 August 2025, the same provisions apply to the control fees related to the retail sales permit for smokeless nicotine products as to the control fees for retail sales permits for nicotine liquids.
By practical examples, this means the following:
- if the seller has already announced that they sell tobacco products and nicotine liquids, the maximum fee will remain at 1.000 euros, even if the seller announces that they also sell smokeless nicotine products.
- if the seller has announced that they only sell tobacco products, the supervision fee would increase to 1.000 euros if the seller announces that they also sell smokeless nicotine products.
- if the seller has announced that they only sell nicotine liquids, the fee will remain at 500 euros, even if the seller announces that they also sell smokeless nicotine products.
Therefore, the control fee for a shop with a single checkout (= point of sale) can be up to 500 or 1.000 euros, depending on whether the shop sells tobacco products and nicotine liquids, tobacco products and smokeless nicotine products, nicotine liquids and smokeless nicotine products, or only one product group. In a shop with five checkouts, the control fee can therefore be a maximum of 2.500 or 5.000 euros.
Questions related to control fees and fees for processing applications and notifications should be addressed to the municipality that granted the permit.
The retail sale of smokeless nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, requires a retail sales permit specific to both the point of sale and the applicant, granted by the municipality where the sales location is situated. However, a sales permit is not required for the sale of other tobacco substitutes, such as herbal products intended for smoking, or other products regulated by the Tobacco Act, such as smoking equipment. Nonetheless, their sale must be subject to the regulations of the Tobacco Act, for example regarding self-monitoring and the marketing ban.