Background:
A new Tobacco-Free Generation goal has been launched in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, aiming for <5% tobacco use by 2040. In order to meet this goal, preventive measures need to be strengthened. Tobacco control has a long history in many Nordic countries.

Objective:
We assess the current status of the Nordic countries preventive tobacco policies and discuss possible determinants for similarities and differences in policy implementation.

Methods:
The WHO Articles 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, and 16, were selected for the analysis, in which we assessed the status of the required (core) and recommended (advanced) policies and their application to novel tobacco and nicotine products. Data of strategies, acts, and regulations were searched from global and national tobacco control databases, websites, and scientific articles via PubMed and MEDLINE.

Results:
In the Nordic countries, the core policies are mostly in place, ensured by the implementation of the WHO FCTC and European regulations. However, these have also contributed to shared deficiencies that are seen especially in the regulations on smokeless tobacco and novel products. Several advanced policies have been implemented in the Nordic countries, even among the first countries in the world: point-of-sale display bans (Iceland), outdoor smoking bans (Sweden), flavor bans on e-cigarettes (Finland), plain packaging (Norway), and plain packaging on e-cigarettes (Denmark). Progress has been facilitated by strong national tobacco control actors, but in order to strengthen comprehensive implementation of preventive policies, collaboration and participation in reinforcing the European regulations, resources for national coordination and networking, and national regulations to provide protection from the tobacco industry’s interference are needed.

Conclusions:
Nordic countries have many strengths, yet more actions and collaboration are needed to achieve the Tobacco-Free Generation goal both at national and Nordic level.