Nicotine Pouches Import to Kuwait: A Market to Prepare for, Not Enter Yet

An absence of a named law is a materially different situation in Kuwait than in Georgia or Armenia. Every other GCC state we reviewed — Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia — actively prohibits nicotine pouch import or sale, and Gulf customs authorities tend to apply general tobacco and pharmaceutical import controls conservatively to unfamiliar nicotine products even without a product-specific ban. A shipment could reasonably be delayed or refused at Kuwaiti customs today despite the absence of an explicit law.

Once Ministerial Resolution No. 237 of 2026 takes effect, nicotine pouches will be treated as a registered medicine product — meaning distribution will likely run through pharmacy or medically-licensed retail channels rather than general convenience or tobacco retail, similar in spirit to Canada's pharmacy-gated model for higher-strength pouches.

We recommend monitoring Kuwait rather than attempting a shipment under the current unaddressed status. The clearer, lower-risk entry point is to prepare a registration submission ahead of the 1 January 2027 effective date, rather than testing the current regulatory gap against a customs environment shaped by the rest of the GCC's restrictive stance.

• Get Ministerial Resolution No. 237 of 2026 and the finalised registration process from the Ministry of Health or a licensed local adviser.
• Establish who can hold the registration. Find out whether a local entity or agent is required before you plan the dossier.
• Build the product dossier for each SKU you intend to register, since pouches will be registered as a medicine.
• Identify a pharmacy or medically licensed channel partner, not a general tobacco retailer.
• Do not test the current gap with a shipment. Gulf customs apply tobacco and pharmaceutical controls conservatively to unfamiliar nicotine products.

As of early October 2026 the effective date is under three months away. Medicine-style registration is rarely quick, and the process for pouches has not been tested, so the practical window for preparing a submission is short. Start by confirming who can register and what the dossier needs, then decide whether the market justifies the work. The alternative is to build your Gulf programme from the UAE, where the product has its own category today, and revisit Kuwait once the first registrations show how the process works.

Classifying nicotine pouches as a medicine, as Ministerial Resolution No. 237 of 2026 will from 1 January 2027, changes the nature of the business. It is no longer a tobacco-adjacent consumer product but a regulated health product, and the supply chain has to behave accordingly.

Expect the registration to be product-specific, which means each SKU and strength needs its own file. Expect evidence requirements closer to those of a pharmaceutical or health product than of a snack or a tobacco item. Expect labelling and advertising limits that make branding more restricted than in the UAE. And expect distribution to move to pharmacy or medically licensed outlets, so the buyer is a pharmacy chain or a licensed distributor and not a corner shop.

That changes how you plan margin and volume. Pharmacy channels tend to carry fewer products and move smaller quantities, so a Kuwaiti programme may be narrow in range and steady rather than large. It also changes who you talk to: a regulatory adviser and a pharmaceutical distributor matter more than a tobacco wholesaler.

Because every neighbouring Gulf state prohibits the category, Kuwait is also a possible first mover in a restrictive region, which can be an advantage if registration is achievable and a trap if it is not. The prudent course is the one already described: prepare the dossier, find out who may hold the registration, and wait for the effective date before any shipment. The preparation work is not wasted if you later register in a similar medicine-style regime elsewhere.

What not to do. Do not ship samples as a test of the current gap, do not promise delivery dates to a buyer before registration exists, and do not assume the registration process will resemble tobacco or food import, since it is a medicine process. Do keep a record of who you spoke to and what they said, because a rule that is new will be interpreted differently by different officials before practice settles.

This guide reflects publicly available information as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. Confirm current customs treatment and the finalised registration process for Ministerial Resolution No. 237 of 2026 with Kuwait's Ministry of Health or a licensed local regulatory adviser before attempting any shipment.