Selling tobacco products and e-cigarettes in Estonia

To sell tobacco products and related products such as e-cigarettes in Estonia, a notice of economic activities must be filed¹⁶¹⁷ before trading starts¹⁸. The Tobacco Act also restricts how and where these products are sold⁷²⁴, and importers and producers must notify their products to the Health Board³⁷.

Information as of 10 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-10. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

The Tobacco Act (tubakaseadus, TubS) treats trading in tobacco products or tobacco-related products as one form of "handling" them; trading means offering and selling them by wholesale, by retail, by cross-border distance sale or by domestic distance sale¹. A tobacco product is a product made wholly or partly of tobacco for smoking, chewing, sucking, inhaling as an aerosol or snuffing².

Tobacco-related products include substitutes such as electronic cigarettes, herbal products for smoking and tobacco-free nicotine pouches, whatever their nicotine content, and accessories such as water pipes, pipes, cigarette papers and filters³. An electronic cigarette includes its components, such as cartridges, tanks and the device without them⁴.

Letting customers use a water pipe with water-pipe tobacco is treated as a service linked to retail sale of tobacco⁵.

Not permitted: handling of smokeless tobacco products is prohibited (narrow ship-storage exception), except smokeless novel tobacco products⁶. Retail sale by distance selling, cross-border or domestic, is prohibited⁷, and delivering tobacco or related products into Estonia by distance sale is prohibited⁸.

The legal act and the authority

Tobacco Act (tubakaseadus) — notice duty, product and sale rules⁹.
General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus, MSÜS) — what every notice contains and how it is filed¹⁰.
Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act (alkoholi-, tubaka-, kütuse- ja elektriaktsiisi seadus, ATKEAS) — excise duty and tax stamps. Sales packages carry a tax stamp where that act requires it¹¹, namely when excise duty becomes payable in Estonia¹². Excise status is specified for the client's case.

The notice is entered in the Register of Economic Activities (majandustegevuse register, MTR), whose controller is the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet, TTJA)¹³. Unless the act states otherwise, acts under the Tobacco Act are done by the Health Board (Terviseamet)¹⁴.

State supervision under the Tobacco Act is shared¹⁵:

the Tax and Customs Board (Maksu- ja Tolliamet) — product and handling rules, traceability, bringing products to Estonia;
TTJA — product and handling rules, e-cigarette devices, sponsorship and sales promotion;
municipal governments — retail sale rules in their territory;
the Health Board — product notifications;
police officers — bans protecting minors.

Who must file a notice

To sell tobacco products, a notice of economic activities must be filed in three fields: retail trade, wholesale trade and catering¹⁶. The duty also applies to tobacco-related products¹⁷. Under the MSÜS the notice is filed with the registrar before the activity starts¹⁸.

Exemptions named in the acts:

no notice is filed for selling tobacco products at a public event¹⁹;
no notice duty applies to a business with a licence duty in the same field, or to a provider from another contracting state serving Estonia temporarily (with stated exceptions)²⁰.

Requirements for the business

Whether own-funds, management or other requirements (for example anti-money-laundering rules) apply is specified for the client's case. The main trading rules:

Wholesale

Wholesale of tobacco and related products is settled by cashless payment only²¹.
The consignment document of a tobacco product, including an internal one, must show the human-readable code of the product's unique identifier and, for cigarettes, the maximum retail price²².
Every handler up to the first retail outlet records each sales package's entry, movements and exit and keeps a register of routes and transactions under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/574; records may not be changed or deleted²³.

Retail

Retail sale is prohibited on the premises or enclosed grounds of child welfare institutions, kindergartens, schools, youth centres and camps, and hospitals²⁴.
Retail sale is prohibited in itinerant trade, from vending machines, at points of sale without a sales hall (with the act's exceptions), in pharmacies, in excise warehouses and by distance sale⁷.
Visible display of the products and their trade marks at retail is prohibited, except in a specialised shop not visible from outside, on international ships, in closed port and airport areas, and as words in a price list²⁵.
Prohibited: exceeding the maximum retail price of cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos, sale by the piece or from an open package (stated cigar and water-pipe exceptions), and packing with other goods²⁶.
Sales promotion is prohibited, including free or discounted offers, gifts and showing old and new prices together²⁷.
Sale to under-18s is prohibited; the seller checks an identity document unless the buyer is obviously or known to be an adult²⁸. Minors may not be employed in work involving these products²⁹.
A retail seller other than a catering business must accept and display approved free leaflets that promote reducing tobacco use³⁰.

E-cigarettes and e-liquids (product rules the seller's goods must meet)

Nicotine-containing liquid may not contain more than 20 mg/ml of nicotine; e-liquids, with or without nicotine, may not contain flavourings or aromas other than tobacco and menthol, nor vitamins, caffeine, taurine or colouring additives³¹.

What the notice and the product notifications contain

Notice of economic activities — the MSÜS general data: name and registry code, contact details, field of activity and its classification code, start date if different from the filing date, and the signatory and basis of representation³²; where a requirement attaches to the place of business, its address, including a website³³. The Tobacco Act adds the goods to be sold (tobacco products), data on import or export within the meaning of the ATKEAS, and the place or places of business (with the website address for e-commerce)³⁴. The notice is filed through the Estonian state portal (eesti.ee) or a notary³⁵. Changes to the data are notified to the registrar within five working days³⁶.

Product notifications (only for businesses bringing products to Estonia for sale or making them here) — filed separately with the Health Board in electronic form:

tobacco products — before a new or changed product is placed on the market, on the form under Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/2186³⁷;
novel tobacco products — six months before the planned placing on the market³⁸;
e-cigarettes and refill containers, including nicotine-free ones — six months before the planned placing on the market or on each substantial change, on the form under Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/2183³⁹;
herbal products for smoking — before placing on the market⁴⁰;
yearly sales data by brand and type for the previous year, by 31 March⁴¹.

State fees and time limits

Notice of economic activities: the notice is filed through the state portal or a notary³⁵; whether a state fee applies is specified for the client's situation. Through the state portal the business (or a notary) enters the data itself⁴³; data in a notice submitted to the registrar are entered by the next working day⁴⁴.
Product notification (Health Board): review of a notification EUR 5,000; change of a notification EUR 740; publication and keeping EUR 100 per year⁴⁵. The Supreme Court declared the fees for changes and for publication void as regards manufacturers and importers of cigars⁴⁶. In addition, the Health Board charges EUR 240 per substance assessed in an e-liquid and EUR 965 for assessing e-liquid emissions⁴⁷, and EUR 240 for assessing a sales-volume notification⁴⁸; the Supreme Court declared the last fee void for cigar manufacturers and importers and for notifications about 2024⁴⁹.
The Health Board may ask for further studies or information on a notified product⁵⁰. These time limits are the law's, not a promise of any outcome or date.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

Selling tobacco is listed in our guide to licensed activities in Estonia under the trade field (retail, wholesale and catering). LexorCorp Global OÜ prepares the notice of economic activities for your company and manages the filing process. We do not give legal or tax advice, do not carry out audits, and do not advise on the excise status of your goods; the state fees are paid by the client. We do not promise the outcome of any notice, product notification or supervision procedure.

The price depends on the activity and is given on request. Open /guides/licensed-activities-in-estonia, find the trade field and use "Request a price" next to the activity; the request reaches us like any other enquiry and we reply by email.

Sources

Tobacco Act § 6(1)(2), § 6(3) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 3(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 3^1(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 3^1(2) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 6(4) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 24(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 22(2) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 31^2 — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 1(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
MSÜS §§ 9, 14, 15 — text in force from 01.09.2025
Tobacco Act § 1(2) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
ATKEAS § 61(1) — text in force from 01.11.2026
MSÜS § 8(4) — text in force from 01.09.2025
Tobacco Act § 7^1 — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 32 — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 18(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 18(5) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
MSÜS § 14(1) — text in force from 01.09.2025
Tobacco Act § 18(1^1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
MSÜS § 14(3) — text in force from 01.09.2025
Tobacco Act § 20 — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 21 — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 24^1(1),(3),(4) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 22(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 22(3^1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 22(3), (4), (5) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 26(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 27(1), § 28(2)-(4) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 28(6) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 23(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 8^1(1),(2) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
MSÜS § 15(1) — text in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 15(3) — text in force from 01.09.2025
Tobacco Act § 18(2) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 18(3) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
MSÜS § 30(5) — text in force from 01.09.2025
Tobacco Act § 10(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 10^1(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 10^2(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 10^3(1) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 10(6), § 10^2(2) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
MSÜS § 58(2) — text in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 59(2) — text in force from 01.09.2025
State Fees Act § 298^4(1)-(3); Tobacco Act § 10^4(1),(2) — text in force from 01.11.2026
State Fees Act § 298^4 note (RT I, 12.05.2026, 47) — text in force from 01.11.2026
Tobacco Act § 10^4(3) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 10^4(4) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 10^4 note (RT I, 12.05.2026, 47) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)
Tobacco Act § 10(2), § 10^1(2), § 10^2(5) — text in force from 07.05.2026 (RT I, 12.05.2026, 48)

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources in the text are named without links; the official texts are linked under Official sources. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.

Selling tobacco products and e-cigarettes in Estonia: notice of economic activities