Belgium Will Ban All Flavored Electronic Cigarettes

Recently, Belgian Health Minister Frank Van den Bulck announced that, based on the latest recommendations of the Belgian High Health Council, the country plans to ban all e-cigarette flavors except for tobacco flavors.
This move "aims to prevent e-cigarettes from becoming an entry point for young people to become addicted to nicotine." Van den Bulck cited the example of the Netherlands, where a similar ban was implemented in January 2024. The results showed that nearly 30% of users reported reducing their e-cigarette usage, and over 20% of users successfully quit smoking without resuming it.
The Belgian High Health Council, which had previously been hesitant about a complete ban, now supports stricter restrictions, believing that protecting teenagers must be the top priority. The cancer charity "Kom op tegen Kanker" (Fight Cancer) has also expanded its anti-smoking campaign to the e-cigarette sector and warned that the usage rate of e-cigarettes among students is rising, with nearly one-third of Belgian students having tried e-cigarettes, and the current weekly usage is four times that of five years ago.
Retailers like Perstablo condemned the proposal as "ridiculous" and warned that it could fuel the illegal market, despite existing bans, as flavored e-cigarettes are still circulating illegally. The organization promised to seek legal means to challenge the legality of this measure.
Van den Bulck's plan this time builds upon previous measures such as the ban on disposable e-cigarettes and restrictions on smoking in areas where teenagers gather, but the specific implementation schedule is still unclear.