Exclusive with Esigbond President on Dutch Flavor Ban

By Ellesmere Zhu

Editor’s note
On Oct 20th the Technical Regulation Information System (TRIS) from the Netherlands regarding the law of the “Amendment of the Tobacco and Smoking Products Order for regulation of e-cigarette flavors” officially ended. The main content of the amendment orders that only 16 flavoring additives are allowed to be added to liquids for and other components of e-cigarettes, i.e., only flavoring additives providing a tobacco flavor are allowed. The law is expected to enter into effect from 2023 January 1st and e-liquid manufacturers and importers are no longer allowed to sell e-liquids with additives outside of these 16 ingredients. 
 
The amendment triggered heated discussions among industry observers, stakeholders, and vapers. Jim McDonald of vaping360.com emphasizes the new list of ingredients is “a stealth ban on all vapes”. During the TRIS period, the European Commission has received 22 comments from various parties. ALL (see chart) of them took an opposite stance against the flavor ban.

Chart 1. All concerned parties (whose comments were written in English) hold an opposite attitude towards the amendment. Summarized by 2FIRSTS

Reasons to oppose the implementation of the law are not least “Nicotine vapes (“e-cigarettes”) are product substitutes for combustible tobacco cigarettes. Smokers’ access to harm reduction alternatives is a human right, a social justice imperative and a life-or-death policy issue” (INNCO), “The ban will lead to a rise in black market activity” (IEVA), “restricting flavor variety is counterproductive to health protection and does not reduce smoking rates” (VdeH), etc.
 
2FIRSTS, as a global media committed to serving the world’s vaping industry and an observer of the Dutch flavor ban, arranged an interview with Emil’t Hart, president of the Dutch E-cigarette Industry Association. 

Emil’t Hart

Esigbond Logo

Jason, Director of International Relations of 2FIRSTS, conducted the interview. The transcript of the interview is as follows

Jason: 

Can you introduce the department and steps of the Dutch e-cigarette regulation? Which party proposed the ban on tobacco flavors, who were the opposing parties, and what were their views?

Emil’t Hart: 

The Dutch Government has announced about 6 years a plan to get the Dutch population more healthy. They have appointed a secretary of state who would write a plan for this and who would be given a lot of powers to achieve this goal. The plan was called the Prevention Agreement. The goal was to limit the use of sugar, fat, tobacco, and gambling addiction. The plan has been initiated and supported by the cabinet (a firm majority in the House of Representatives), as a result of which the opposition has been reasonably sidelined.

Jason: 

What were the procedures for the government to ban flavors? For example like, votes? And why did the ban win in the end? What interests do you think were at stake?

Emil’t Hart: 

Because the plan has been supported by the cabinet, most proposals no longer need to be submitted to the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives only has a controlling role to ensure that everything runs according to the rules and agreements, but does not have a majority to really oppose it. So the State Secretary can write and implement a plan by means of an Order in the Council. After the plan has been presented, the House of Representatives can raise objections and ask critical questions via a committee. After answering the questions and possible adjustments, the plan can be turned into a law. We are now in that phase.

Jason: 

What measures did your association take to oppose the ban on tobacco flavors?

Emil’t Hart: 

All possible measures… Demonstrations, Social media activities, meetings with parliamentarians, cooperation with consumer organizations, special website, provide a lot of information to journalists and policymakers, you name it… 

Jason: 

What impact will the ban have on the Dutch e-cigarette industry and the tobacco industry?

Emil’t Hart: 

The concept that has now been proposed will put an end to the entire industry. No flavor can be produced with the exhaustive list of 16 ingredients.

Jason: 

What is the market share and growth of the traditional cigarette and cannabis industry? How does the market share of e-cigarettes compare to their market share?

Emil’t Hart: 

To be honest, I’ve no idea about the share… I do know that more people have started to smoke last year and in the beginning of this year. I don’t have any figures of the Cannabis industry. This market is only partly based on toleration policy.

references:
1. https://vaping360.com/vape-news/117682/dutch-consultation-vape-flavors-ends-sept-28/
2. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tris/en/search/?trisaction=search.detail&year=2022&num=508