Cross-border distance sales of tobacco products

You have to register because certain EU-countries prohibit cross-border sales of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, etc. Retail outlets with cross-border distance selling is not allowed to deliver goods to consumers in those Member States where such sales are prohibited.

‘Cross-border distance sales’ means distance sales to consumers who is located in a Member State other than the Member State or the third country where that retail outlet is established, at the time the consumer orders the product from a retail outlet.

All retailers who sell tobacco through cross-border distance sales (as an example online trading), must be registered with the Danish Safety Technology Authority.

This applies both if the retailer is established in Denmark and wants to sell to consumers in another EU/EEA country and if the retailer is established in another EU/EEA country and wants to sell to consumers in Denmark.

Moreover, retailers must run an ‘age verification system’ to prevent sale of tobacco products to persons under 18 years.

If you want to market the product only within Denmark’s borders, it is not considered as cross-border distance selling. In this case the products have to be reported to the Danish Safety Technology Authority via EU-CEG.

The registration to the Danish Safety Technology Authority must be made on an official form.

If the information is changed, you have to inform the Danish Safety Technology Authority about the changes.

The marketing must not begin before the Danish Safety Technology Authority has confirmed the registration.

The Danish Safety Technology Authority regularly publishes and updates a list of the registered retailers on the Danish Safety Technology Authority’s webpage sik.dk.

If the retail outlet is established outside of the EU, you must register with the competent authorities of the EU country where the consumer is located. The competent authorities are usually a health department or the like. The Danish Safety Technology Authority cannot help with the designation of registration pages from foreign competent authorities.

Tobacco products is only allowed to be marketed in Denmark if they have been reported to the Danish Safety Technology Authority. The requirement for reporting also applies to products marketed in Denmark through distance selling.