The tobacco market in Germany has just been made a new regulation. From 2023 there will no longer be large packages of shisha tobacco available for purchase in free trade. The sales standard will be 25g packs, which then correspond to the filling capacity of a shisha bowl. In addition, water pipe tobacco and everything to do with e-cigarettes and the like are (more) taxed and can therefore no longer be sold without the well-known tax stamp.
Not only the tobacco tax will be gradually increased, but also the maximum amount of tobacco available. Because from July 1, 2022, the new tobacco tax regulation takes effect. Shisha tobacco may then only be sold in 25g packages. For manufacturers, this means that in the near future it will no longer be possible to produce 1kg buckets or 200g cans, only pack sizes of 25g will then be permitted. However, there is a sell-off period until December 31, 2022, for products manufactured before July 1, 2022.
The 25g regulation has its consequences. For the environment, it means further exposure to even more packaging waste. In addition, the shisha tobacco will also increase in price, because this packaging material is an additional cost in production. In production, entire production lines have to be rebuilt or built in order to produce the new packaging and fill the tobacco. In addition, the transport costs also increase, as the 25g cans take up significantly more space than the previous 200g cans.