In a European first, Belgium bans disposable e-cigarettes

Belgium is set to become the first country in Europe to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes. The law takes effect in the New Year and seeks to curb youth vaping while also addressing environmental concerns. 

It's already illegal to sell vapes to people under the age of 18 in Belgium, which also already has rules on how they can be marketed. 

E-cigarettes can be used as a means to quit smoking but there are fears that vapes, which can come in different flavors and often contain nicotine, are gaining popularity among young people. 

"Disposable e-cigarettes are designed to attract young people, to appeal to new users who maybe never smoked. And as a matter of fact, we see that emerge in our data on smoking in Belgium," said Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgium's health minister. 

"We see that in recent years, the number of young people who started with e-cigarettes is larger than the number of people who started with traditional tobacco cigarettes," he added. "So e-cigarettes are partly attracting a new generation of smokers. And this is simply very bad." 

A 2022 World Health Organization survey found that 12 percent of Belgian 11-18-year-olds had used a vape in the last 30 days. That's more than double the amount seen in 2018. 

The government's move, if properly enforced, is supported by Felix Rijkers, president of the federation of vape retailers, VapeBel. He says the lower price point for disposable e-cigarettes compared to refillable vapes can be a major motivator for young people. 

"A young person that has an impulse – 'I want to try vaping' – is much more inclined to do it at an eight euro ($8.30) price point than at a 20-25 euro ($20.70-$26) price point," Rijkers told CGTN. "Besides this, it's also a convenience thing – you need just one product ready to start."

Germany and France are working on similar legislation but as the first European Union member to impose a ban on sales, Belgian health officials say implementation and a crackdown on illegal vendors will be key. 

"We are collaborating with the large online sales places such as Facebook Marketplace and Amazon, we have a collaboration with them to remove ads for these products immediately," said Annelies Wynant, Spokesperson for Belgium's Federal Public Service of Public Health. "We also collaborate with customs in order to check the sales from abroad. 

Vandenbroucke says the ban was also motivated by environmental concerns. 

"There is plastic waste, obviously," he said. "Secondly, there is e-waste. You have the battery, you have the circuitry. And thirdly, there is hazardous waste because the chemicals that still are there are obviously also left somewhere in the environment, and the chemicals also include nicotine. So it's really also an environmental issue."

A spokesperson for the European Commission calls electronic cigarettes "a dangerous gateway for first smoking experiences." Belgian authorities hope this ban will breathe fresh life into the European Union's goal of creating a tobacco-free generation by 2040.

Nearly a quarter of Belgium's population use tobacco products. In the next 15 years the EU wants to get that figure down to below five percent across all of its 27 member states. As of 2019, that figure stood at over 18 percent.