Mounting scientific evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are harmful, addictive and attractive. E-cigarette use also appears to make young people more likely to start smoking tobacco compared to young people who do not use these products. To make e-cigarettes less attractive, this draft Ministerial Order now bans additives that create flavours other than tobacco flavours in liquids containing nicotine, nicotine-free liquids and other e-cigarette components. This will ban the production and sale of e-cigarettes in flavours other than tobacco. This helps reduce the temptation for young people and former smokers to purchase these e-cigarettes. To enable regulation of flavours other than tobacco in liquids for e-cigarettes, the text now only permits additives that are relatively more common in tobacco-flavoured liquids than in sweet, attractive flavours. The Dutch Government deems this highly likely to make it impossible to place the sweet, attractive flavours on the market. By allowing only certain flavouring additives as ingredients, monitoring for the indicated ingredients can verify compliance with the regulations. Moreover, in cases of doubts as to whether the product meets the regulations, chemical analysis can determine whether unauthorised additives are present in the liquids. Also banning the use of undesignated flavouring additives as ingredients in other components of electronic vapour products prevents the addition of unauthorised flavouring additives by means of cartridges, separate mouthpieces or other e-cigarette components. Due to the harmful effects of inhaling chemicals in liquids for e-cigarettes and the addictiveness of nicotine e-cigarettes, reducing the attractiveness of e-cigarettes offers health benefits. For this reason, regulating flavourings for e-cigarettes is justified by the need to protect public health. Here, the requirements will apply to all e-cigarettes placed onto the market in the Netherlands, meaning that application of this measure is non-discriminatory. The government further deems the measure to be proportionate given that the exhaustive list will only indicate permitted flavouring additives and will not be used to prescribe all ingredients in liquids and other e-cigarette components. Thus, the measure does not go beyond what is necessary. A less restrictive alternative that can achieve the same goal is not conceivable either, making this form of state intervention justified. It is proportionate because it does not ban the sale or use of e-cigarettes, but rather sets rules by ministerial order on the ingredients that can be added to the liquid as flavouring additives. It is therefore still possible to use e-cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking. The measures are also necessary in a democratic society because the legitimate objectives of a smoke-free generation by 2040, in which no young people start smoking, preventing smoking in general and helping current smokers quit are more likely to be achieved if e-cigarettes are less attractive.
