December 2025: New Zealand Lawmakers Debate Plans for Oral Nicotine Products
New Zealand lawmakers debated the Government’s plans for regulating oral tobacco and nicotine products, including products such as nicotine pouches and Swedish-style snus, during a Health Select Committee session in December. The Government had previously agreed in principle to develop a framework that would allow certain smokeless tobacco and oral nicotine products to be sold, subject to safety requirements and regulatory controls intended to restrict youth access. As of December 2025, however, the regulatory framework was still being developed. Existing rules generally restricted the commercial import and sale of oral nicotine products unless they had been approved under applicable medicines or psychoactive-substance regulations.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the Government was considering oral nicotine products as one of several alternatives that could potentially help established smokers move away from cigarettes. Costello has argued that New Zealand needs additional options for people who continue to smoke despite existing cessation measures, while also emphasizing the need for appropriate regulation and measures to limit youth access.
The proposal faced opposition from some lawmakers and public-health researchers. Critics questioned whether introducing another category of nicotine products could contribute to nicotine dependence among young people, pointing to New Zealand’s experience with youth vaping. The Government, however, maintained that appropriate regulatory measures could help prevent youth access and that youth vaping rates had been declining.
Public-health researchers also questioned the evidence supporting oral nicotine products as a smoking-cessation tool. Critics told the committee that there was limited evidence demonstrating that oral nicotine products help people quit smoking and raised concerns about their marketing and use among young people. Some also argued that tobacco companies have an interest in expanding their presence in the broader nicotine market. These represent the concerns and interpretations of public-health critics rather than established findings of the parliamentary committee.
The evidence base on smoking cessation was still developing at the time. A 2025 Cochrane review found limited evidence on oral nicotine pouches for helping people stop or reduce cigarette use, with the available studies relatively small and the certainty of evidence limited. New Zealand was also funding research into the effectiveness, safety and acceptability of nicotine pouches for smoking cessation.
The December debate therefore centered on how New Zealand should regulate oral nicotine products while balancing their potential use among established smokers with concerns about youth uptake, nicotine dependence and the introduction of additional nicotine products into the market.
