The product
Snus
Prohibited, as in every EU member state other than Sweden, and enforced — penalties run to substantial administrative fines per consignment.
Nicotine pouches
Lawful and taxed. Nicotine pouches require authorisation by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli and must carry a legitimacy mark, are sold through authorised channels to over-18s, and carry Italian labelling. The 2026 Budget Law introduces a maximum nicotine content per pouch and childproof packaging.
What you may put in a machine here
The prohibitions on this page are written for tobacco and nicotine. They do not reach a pouch that contains neither.
Snus
NoSnus may not be sold in Italy at all.
Nicotine pouches
YesPermitted, subject to the conditions on this page — age verification at the machine above all.
Nicotine-free pouches
YesNeither a tobacco nor a nicotine product, so Italy's prohibitions on this page do not apply. Ordinary food and consumer law does.
Caffeine & energy pouches
YesNeither a tobacco nor a nicotine product, so Italy's prohibitions on this page do not apply. Ordinary food and consumer law does.
How you may sell it
From a machine
LimitedMay it be sold from a machine?
Permitted, but the channel is the constraint and it decides who your customer is. Automatic tobacco machines may be installed only by the monopoly administration and by licensed monopoly retailers, sited outside the retailer's own premises and in their immediate vicinity, with authorisation from the inspectorate. Every machine must carry an automatic device for detecting the buyer's age, and the same duty applies to machines selling electronic cigarettes and refill containers. The practical consequence is that a bar or hotel cannot host one — the operator has to be a licensed tabaccaio, beside their own shop. Whether pouches specifically are approved for those machines should be confirmed with ADM, since they require separate authorisation and a legitimacy mark.
On display
LimitedMay it be shown — shelves, cases, branded coolers?
Display is permitted, branding is not — which rules out the fixture rather than the market. Tobacco may be shown inside a tabaccheria, but presentation must stay neutral: display confined to a single brand or producer is prohibited, and affixing brands, logos or any reference to them on shelves and counter containers is expressly excluded. Promotion in any form, direct or indirect, is prohibited. A plain unbranded chilled display unit is therefore workable here; a cooler carrying a brand is the thing the rule names.