By Timothy S. Donahue

Top Takeaways:

• Health Ministry evaluating full ban as nicotine pouches start appearing online even though they are not legally sold in Uruguay.
• Regulators cite rising youth exposure risks, reversing earlier relaxed policies on heated tobacco and tightening regulations across all nicotine-delivery categories.
• Regional and COP11 discussions intensify pressure, with Uruguay urging Mercosur and global partners to regulate or ban pouches before markets grow.

The World Health Organization’s stance against nicotine pouches is already making an impact. Uruguay is preparing to crack down on nicotine pouches as they start circulating in the market, even though they aren’t officially sold in the country. According to El Observador, tins of 15 pouches are already available online and usually cost around 800 Uruguayan pesos.

The country’s Ministry of Public Health (MSP) is now reviewing a decree to ban the product, citing early use by consumers who are either traveling or buying online. “Although the product is not officially sold in Uruguay, it is already being used by consumers … prompting authorities to consider early intervention,” a ministry source told media.

Two months earlier, Uruguay brought up the issue at the Mercosur Intergovernmental Tobacco Control Commission. During that meeting, Uruguay’s representative Cecilia Reolón stated that such products “must be regulated or prohibited by governments” and highlighted the importance of increasing oversight of online tobacco sales and advertising.

At the opening of COP11 in Geneva, Health Minister Cristina Lustemberg warned that the tobacco industry is promoting new nicotine delivery systems “to normalize consumption,” and she stated that evidence clearly shows these products are “not harmless and increase addiction among children and adolescents.”

Uruguay has also reversed previous decrees by former president Luis Lacalle Pou that relaxed packaging rules and permitted heated-tobacco product sales. Under the current government, the regulatory framework for heated-tobacco and e-liquid-vape devices is now aligned with the standards for combustible tobacco.

“We are returning to strong norms … we make no distinction in regulation of heated tobacco with respect to vape liquids,” the MSP stated.

Although Uruguay has no published data specifically on nicotine pouches, the MSP noted a low risk perception among youth toward e-cigarettes, linked to “colorful and high-tech designs and strong social-media promotion,” even though the promotion of those products is already banned domestically.

For the tobacco and nicotine-product industry, Uruguay’s move indicates that even the unofficial introduction of smokeless nicotine pouches can lead to regulatory pushback. Key implications include:

• Markets with existing strong tobacco control regimes may treat nicotine pouches not as reduced-risk alternatives but as risky products needing prohibition or heavy regulation;
• Even without commercial launch, consumer access via cross-border or online channels can prompt preventive regulatory responses;
• Companies planning to introduce nicotine pouches must expect regulatory uncertainty, even in areas with generally supportive harm-reduction views.

Uruguay’s early regulatory steps coincide with discussions at COP11 and regional forums about broader control of next-gen nicotine products, including pouches, filters, and vapes. According to industry-monitoring groups, draft documents at COP11 urge Parties to consider stronger regulation of emerging products like nicotine pouches under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).