1: Final Dutch Consultation on Vape Flavors Ends Sept. 28th

Vaping consumers and advocates have less than a week to take part in the Dutch government’s brief public consultation on a vape product flavor ban likely to put current manufacturers out of business next year. The deadline for making comments is Sept. 28.

The new law, which will ban all vape flavors except tobacco, is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2023—although products already on the market by Dec. 31 can be sold until July 1, 2023. The law will ban flavors in both nicotine-containing and zero-nicotine e-liquids, and applies to bottled e-liquid and prefilled products.

The consultation is a chance to specifically comment on a new amendment to the country’s Tobacco and Smoking Products Order that goes a step further than the previously announced flavor restrictions. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM) and Ministry of Health have proposed a list of just 16 ingredients that would be allowed in legal tobacco-flavored e-liquids.

But manufacturers say the limited list of allowed ingredients would make developing new flavors impossible—including tobacco flavors.

Although the law will only directly affect the Netherlands, any government policy on a subject as controversial as vaping can have influence beyond the borders of the lawmaking country. That’s especially true in the European Union, where member countries routinely collaborate on health- and tobacco-related issues. As the British New Nicotine Alliance (NNA) points out, even UK vapers could be affected by flavor bans in EU countries.

Since the consultation is open to all, Dutch advocates are asking for comments from vapers and tobacco harm reduction supporters across the EU and even in other regions of the world.

The consumer umbrella organization European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA) has developed a guide to submitting comments to the consultation that makes the process simple.