Retail of products subject to the Tobacco Act
Tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids 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 our Prevention of illicit trade -page.
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 and nicotine-containing liquids or for the processing of a notification concerning the retail of nicotine-containing liquids. 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 in writing 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.
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 and nicotine-containing liquids 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 and nicotine-containing liquids 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 or nicotine-containing liquids 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 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.
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 EUR 500 per point of sale for either tobacco products or nicotine-containing liquids, or up to EUR 1,000 per point of sale for both tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids.
The control fee for a shop with a single checkout (= point of sale) can therefore be up to 500 or 1,000 euros, depending on whether both tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids are sold in the shop or only one of them. For a shop with five checkouts, the control fee can be up to 2,500 or 5,000 euros. For more information about this, please contact the municipality that granted the permit.
The sale of other products provided for in the Tobacco Act, such as smoking accessories or tobacco substitutes, does not require a sales permit. However, when selling them, the regulations of the Tobacco Act must be taken into account regarding self-monitoring and the marketing ban, for example.