Flavored e-cigarettes will be permanently withdrawn from the market from 1 October 2023

• Milo Hornstra

  Interior editor

• Jeroen Gortwurst

  National journalist

Banana, orange or biscuit: all e-cigarette flavors will be definitively withdrawn from the market on October 1, 2023. This is reflected in an amendment to the law that was recently published in Government Gazette.

Since that date, liquids for so-called vaporizers and other e-cigarettes can only taste like tobacco. The ban covers refill liquids, pre-filled e-cigarettes and disposable vaporizers.

That there would be a ban on flavors for e-cigarettes, it was already clear. In 2020, then Secretary of State Blokhuis said e-cigarettes were a regular stepping stone for young people to smoke regular cigarettes, and that the flavors lowered the threshold for “vaping”.

It was not yet known exactly what the ban would look like. It now appears that as of January 1, stores still have nine months to sell off existing stock.

In addition to the ban on flavourings, the packaging cannot contain images or words that refer to anything other than tobacco.

Also, the rules for naming are getting stricter. For example, liquids are still sold with terms like “bad boy fuel‘, ‘chilling‘ or with puns like ‘OMGin‘, referring to a liquid that tastes like gin. As of October this may no longer be on the packaging.

Trimbos expert Esther Croes calls the ban “a step in the right direction.” Croes: “The sweet flavors make the use of e-cigarettes and vaporizers particularly attractive to young people.”

Additionally, vendors pretend an e-cigarette is a godsend for people who want to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes, he says. “But research shows that only a few benefit from it.” About 1.4% of Dutch adults regularly use an e-cigarette, she says.

“And when you consider that one in five adults smoke, using something that’s supposed to be the solution to quitting smoking is pretty disappointing.”

In addition, Croes sees that most smokers who start using electronic cigarettes, the so-called double user become: or people who smoke both tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes: “And research shows that smoking both only increases health damage.”

For vendors, a ban on flavorings has been in the air for some time. Several online shops therefore already have a notice on their website website with which they invite customers to “order on time”.

“The expectation is that the hoarding will happen before the taste ban goes into effect,” the seller’s website reads. “Due to the hectic pace expected at wholesalers, we cannot give any guarantees.”

According to Emil ‘t Hart of the trade association Esigbond, the taste ban is exceeding its goal. “We know that flavors play an important role for smokers in eliminating tobacco affinity,” he says.

“Now you’re only restricting the e-cigarette to such an extent that it’s nearly impossible to get it legally. So it doesn’t help if the goal is to transition to a smoke-free generation.”

The RIVM has compiled a list of sixteen ingredients that manufacturers can use to produce tobacco flavors. With these ingredients, the RIVM says about a quarter of current tobacco flavors can continue to exist.

According to Emil ‘t Hart this is impossible. “We were able to taste the first variants. This is a very weak copy of what a tobacco flavor should be,” he says. “Essential parts are missing to get the right taste. With this, the Secretary of State goes much further than a simple taste ban, because no tobacco can be made with these ingredients.”

NOS Stories has previously investigated how harmful vaporizers are and how it is possible that even minors can easily get such an e-cigarette.