Retail licence for nicotine products in Finland
All retail sale of nicotine products in Finland requires a licence. The licence is applied for electronically through tupakkarekisteri.fi and granted by the municipality where the premises are located. The licence applies per premises and per licence holder. An application fee is payable for the licence, and in addition an annual supervision fee is charged, the amount of which depends on the number of points of sale and the number of product categories.
What the licence means in practice
| Where to apply | Electronically through tupakkarekisteri.fi; granted by the municipality where the premises are located |
| Scope | Per premises and per licence holder — one licence per shop and per holder |
| Product categories | Declared in the licence application. They are not separate licences, but they affect the supervision fee |
| Cost | A one-off application fee + an annual supervision fee determined by the number of points of sale and the number of product categories |
| Display | The licence must be displayed visibly at the point of sale |
| Nicotine replacement products | Fall under the Medicines Act, not the Tobacco Act — different regulation |
What must be in order at the point of sale
Some obligations apply to every point of sale. Display is the one where a specialist shop and an ordinary point of sale differ.
Applies to every point of sale
- The retail licence displayed visibly
- The purchase supervised by the seller
- The age limit checked without exception
- The self-monitoring plan kept up to date
Display: two different rules
- Ordinary point of sale — shop, service station, kiosk: products are entirely hidden and sold from a product list. The display ban is absolute.
- Specialist shop — a shop selling almost exclusively products governed by the Tobacco Act and with its own entrance: products may be displayed inside the shop. This applies provided that the products or their trademarks are not visible from outside the shop, and that a notice of the age limit is posted outside the entrance.
The specialist shop exception does not extend to marketing: displayed products are still covered by the marketing ban. The right to display means only that the product may be visible in the shop.
Questions about the licence
Do I need a separate licence for nicotine pouches?
Not a separate licence, but the category must be declared. Smoke-free nicotine products came under the Tobacco Act on 1 August 2025, so their sale requires a licence. If your licence does not cover them, notify the municipality of the change. Adding categories may raise the supervision fee.
Is the licence per shop or per till?
The licence is per premises: one shop, one licence. The number of tills does not affect the licence but does affect the supervision fee, which is charged per point of sale. The two are easily confused, because the fee is the more visible cost.
What does the licence cost?
The cost has two parts: the municipality's application fee and the annual supervision fee. Both vary by municipality. The supervision fee is at most 500 euros per point of sale. If both tobacco products and e-liquids or smoke-free nicotine products are sold at the point of sale, the fee may be up to twice that amount, that is at most 1,000 euros per point of sale. In practice a point of sale means a till, and municipalities charge the fee per till — but the Tobacco Act does not define a point of sale, so check how your own municipality interprets it. Check the fees in your municipality.
Can I order products before the licence is granted?
No. We open a B2B portal account only once the point of sale holds a valid retail licence. It is worth applying for the licence well before the planned start of sales.
What happens if I sell without a licence?
Retail sale without a licence is contrary to the Tobacco Act and leads to action by the authorities. The municipality supervises points of sale and carries out inspections. We do not supply products to a point of sale without a valid licence.
Sources: the Tobacco Act 549/2016, in particular section 44 (the licence is tied to the premises and the holder, as amended by Act 251/2025), section 46 (contents of the application) and section 91 (supervision fee) · guidance from the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Agency on licensed retail sale · municipal tariff decisions. This page is written from the point-of-sale perspective and does not replace official guidance.
Check the supervision fee for your point of sale
We have collected the supervision and application fees of the municipalities of mainland Finland in one place. Enter your municipality and you will see the annual fee, the application fee for a new licence and the update fee.