Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke has secured federal approval to ban all flavored e-cigarettes by September 1, 2028. Driven by a sharp increase in youth vaping, the measure will eliminate popular sweet flavors, restricting the legal market exclusively to tobacco and neutral options.
Recent figures indicate that more than a third of Belgian youths aged 15 to 20 have experimented with vapes. Health officials argue that flavors like bubblegum and fruit mask the harshness of nicotine and dangerous toxins—including lead and tar—making the devices deceptively appealing to a new generation.
The policy aligns with recommendations from the Superior Health Council and mirrors a similar, successful ban in the Netherlands that resulted in decreased usage. The delayed 2028 rollout provides a necessary grace period for regulatory compliance and stock clearance.
However, the decision faces significant opposition from the retail sector. Perstablo, representing tobacco and press retailers, strongly criticized the plan, warning that eliminating legal flavored vapes could have “disastrous consequences” by driving consumers toward an illegal, unregulated market.
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