On the 13th of August, Malta officially amended the Manufacture, Presentation and Sale of Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (S.L. 315.10) through Legal Notice 178 of 2025. This amendment marks a significant shift in Malta’s tobacco control framework by legalising the placement of heated tobacco products (HTPs) on the Maltese market.

HTPs are defined as a novel tobacco product that is heated to produce an emission containing nicotine and other chemicals, which is then inhaled by the user and that depending on its characteristics, is a smokeless tobacco product or a tobacco product for smoking.

The legal notice introduces several important amendments to the principal regulations:

The definition of ‘heated tobacco product’ will be formally added to the Manufacture, Presentation and Sale of Tobacco and Related Products Regulations.

With the introduction of this legal notice, heated tobacco products can now be imported, manufactured, prepared, stored and kept for sale, sell or supply in Malta.

Furthermore, HTPs classified as smokeless tobacco products must be appropriately labelled in accordance with Article 12 of Directive 2014/40/EU, which mandates the inclusion of a health warning to ensure compliance with EU legislation.

The introduction of LN 178 of 2025 means that HTP users can now get their product from Malta, instead of having to purchase such product overseas.

For businesses, particularly those already engaged in the sale of tobacco products, this amendment allowing the import and sale of HTPs, opens new opportunities to expand their product offerings to include HTPs for customers.

In the meantime, the EU Commission’s revision of the EU Tobacco Products Directive and EU Tobacco Taxation Directive have been pushed back to mid-2026 due to the complexity of the issues being faced, including the fundamental issues cropping up against a one-size fits all taxation model for tobacco products being proposed as opposed to a lobbying effort by certain member states arguing that lower risk alternatives to combustible tobacco, such as heated tobacco products and smoke free tobacco should be “incentivised” over traditional tobacco products.