The Danish government launched a comprehensive plan to reduce nicotine, tobacco, and alcohol use among under 18, taking the first major steps to better protect minors from using 18+ products. Introduced in 2023, the initiative outlined 30 targeted actions and allocated nearly DKK 500 million to support prevention efforts and long-term change.
The need for MitID age verification
Recent studies have shown an increase in the use of nicotine products among Danish youth. In 2020, 8.7% of 15–17-year-olds used smokeless nicotine products, rising to 12% in 2022, while use among 18-24-year-olds increased from 11.9% to 17.4%. Danish youth also consume more alcohol than theirs European age group and start drinking at a younger age, and despite laws against selling these products to minors, it is still too easy for them to get their hands on them, with businesses facing a recommended fine of 10,000 DKK fir selling alcohol to minors, and 25,000 DKK for the illegal sale of tobacco, e-cigarettes, or herbal smoking products to minors.
Key actions in the prevention plan
The new plan introduces a range of measures to tackle these issues:
- Stronger controls: Authorities will have more power to monitor and regulate the sale of tobacco, nicotine, and alcohol products. The government will raise taxes on nicotine products and ban sweet flavors that attract children.
- Stricter sales rules: Sellers can only offer regular beer and low-alcohol drinks to individuals aged 16 and 17. Stronger alcoholic beverages will not be available to this age group.
- Digital age verification: The plan will introduce digital systems to check buyers’ ages, ensuring minors cannot buy restricted products.
- Public awareness campaigns: The government will provide funds to teach young people about the dangers of nicotine and alcohol.
- Healthy communities: The government will fund the creation of youth communities that focus on health and well-being, rather than promoting alcohol consumption.
The latest day for implementation
Minors have easy access to tobacco, nicotine, and alcohol. Illegal e-cigarettes, especially puff bars (a one-time vape, which usually includes nicotine), are also widely available and harmful. To address this, the government introduced a prevention plan in November 2023 with 30 initiatives, supported by the Folketing.
Minister of the interior and health, Sophie Løhde, said:
“It’s too easy for children and young people to get puff bars, which is very concerning. These products often have high levels of nicotine, which is addictive and harmful. We are giving authorities more power to stop illegal nicotine products. We’re also improving age checks in stores and online to prevent sales to minors.
The bill has three main points:
- Ban the import, purchase, and possession of e-cigarettes with illegal sweet flavors and high nicotine content.
- Allow the National Security Agency to seize illegal tobacco and nicotine products without police involvement.
- Enhance age verification by involving young buyers and utilizing trustworthy online age verification methods, such as MitID. This can be particularly useful for buying tobacco, nicotine, and alcohol.
Regulations introduced in 2024 included new requirements for online age verification, which came into effect on October 1. Merchants had time to update their e-commerce platforms to comply with the changes.
New age verification requirements for businesses
Businesses must now implement age verification using either MitID or physical ID card scanning to comply with the law. Consumers must verify their age at the point of purchase. Before June 4th, sellers only needed customers to check a box to confirm their age when buying nicotine or alcohol online.
Therefore, simply checking a box to confirm you are 18 will no longer be sufficient. The consumer will have to use MitID age verification. To integrate MitID into your process, you will need to contact a MitID broker.
Using MitID and G2RS for age verification
This plan ensures that retailers sell age-restricted products only to individuals of legal age. To achieve this, users can leverage MitID, Denmark’s national digital ID system, along with G2RS, a digital identity verification company.
How it works
- Integration: Retail and online sales systems can integrate MitID to instantly verify customer age.
- Security: MitID offers a secure method for verifying identities, making it more challenging for minors to use fake IDs.
- Efficiency: Businesses can quickly and easily verify ages, complying with regulations without slowing down sales.
- Wide Use: MitID enables enforcement of the prevention plan across all physical stores and online platforms.
- CPR Match: Verify that the MitID entered by the user matches the CPR number after logging in with MitID.
Utilize ID verification to verify age online
A second option for ID verification involves offering both MitID and physical ID verification. This method allows users to easily submit their ID card or scan their passport. They can also complete a liveness verification at checkout or when creating an account. While this method is less common in Denmark, it is a viable option for those who do not have MitID.
The way forward
Denmark’s prevention plan, which was introduced in 2021, marked a major step toward protecting minors from nicotine and alcohol. The plan requires a secure age verification system, such as MitID, to ensure businesses comply with the law, avoid penalties, and prevent minors from accessing products intended for adults.
Contact us to learn more about how G2RS can help with age verification using MitID.