Belgium is rapidly tightening its vaping and smoking rules — from banning disposable e-cigarettes in January 2025 to prohibiting outdoor smoking and vaping on terraces from 2027, and removing smoking rooms in bars, airports, and shisha lounges. In this interview, Joanna speaks with Alberto Gómez Hernández, Policy Manager at the World Vapers’ Alliance, about what’s changing, why it’s happening, and whether these measures.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro: What’s changing in Belgium 0:28 Disposables ban, display rules, and taxes 1:15 Enforcement gaps and black-market growth 2:05 Terrace ban and smoking room closures 2:40 Flavor bans under discussion 3:10 Ideology vs harm reduction debate 3:45 What this means for consumers and retailersTranscription:
00:04 - 01:31
[Joanna Junak]
Hello and welcome! I'm Joanna Junak and this is GFN News on GFN.tv. Vaping restrictions across Europe are increasing. Despite demanding evidence that vaping is an effective alternative to smoking, many countries are continuing to bring in restrictive regulations. One of them is Belgium. Starting in January 2027, the country will ban smoking and vaping on public terraces and remove smoking rooms in bars, airports and shisha lounges, saying that this decision protects people's health and helps create a healthier environment for everyone. Joining us today to shed more light on the current vaping laws in Belgium is Alberto Gómez Hernández, Policy Manager at the World Vapors Alliance. Hello Alberto. When we spoke last time, Belgium had decided to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes. Now it's planning to introduce yet more restrictions. So could you please update us on the vaping situation in the country?
01:33 - 03:02
[Alberto Gómez Hernández]
Yes, so the situation on vaping and in general And alternative nicotine products in Belgium is very restrictive. Well, regarding vapes, disposable vapes have been banned since the start of the year, since January 2025. Flavors are still allowed, but there are discussions happening within the government to ban them soon, arguing that they are attractive to children. And then also earlier this year, on April 1st, display ban came into effect. which basically forces shop owners to not display the products in the store shelves. And this leads to some situations, for example, when shop owners receive the shipments for their business and they want to transfer them from the boxes into the closets, they need to fully close the door and the windows of the shops. It's really an absurd situation what we are seeing. And then there are also some taxes on both nicotine and non-nicotine liquids, which are of I think, 0.15 euros per milliliter. And then on the other safer nicotine products, the restrictions are even tighter. For example, nicotine pouches are banned since October 2023. And heater tobacco products like Icos are not banned, but they are heavily restricted. They are treated similarly as conventional cigarettes in terms of packaging, advertising, labeling, health warnings. And this has led to companies such as Philip Morris to not sell their ICOS products there, for example.
03:03 - 03:12
[Joanna Junak]
We see many restrictions, as you mentioned. So why does countries still introduce new ones instead of enforcing existing ones?
03:14 - 05:35
[Alberto Gómez Hernández]
Well, there are two reasons. First of all, the country, the Belgian government and especially the Belgian health minister, Frank van den Broek, have been arguing that these restrictions are not enough. first, to keep children off smoking, and second, to prevent people from smoking and vaping. And secondly, they argue that they are not working because of the European Union. The Belgian health minister stated that the problem is not Belgian legislation, but the lack of European legislation and of European cooperation. So he's arguing that because these products are widely allowed in other European countries, they cannot enforce the rules in their own country, and they cannot restrict the use. And also the most recent data shows that these restrictions are not working. For example, data from the Belgian health minister has shown that half of the shopkeepers across the country are violating these new rules. And that basically the trade of disposable babes is being handed to the black market. In Brussels, for example, 80% of the shops still sell disposable babes. And it's really easy to find disposable babes and buy them in kiosks or small convenience stores, which is leading to a flood of potentially dangerous vaping products all over the country. These products go unchecked, and they might cause public health and security issues, as we have seen also happening in the Netherlands, which follows similar policies, if not even more stricter. And even some media reports have found that disposable babes are more popular now among children, and also that there are more widely available illegal THC-containing cannabis vapes, which, again, is really dangerous and can lead to really bad public health situations like Bali. So seeing this perspective, seeing this situation, the Bajaj government is clamping down on these products again. And what they have recently approved is a ban on outdoor smoking and vaping in public terraces of bars and restaurants. And they are even closing public smoking rooms in bars, in airports, in CISA lounges. The only thing we are not sure yet is whether the smoking rooms in the European Parliament are going to be closed or not.
05:35 - 05:48
[Joanna Junak]
You also mentioned that the current restrictions aren't working and studies still show that vaping is a good alternative to smoking. So why doesn't the government take this into account?
05:48 - 06:42
[Alberto Gómez Hernández]
Well, the Belgian health minister has a very ideology size approach to vaping and to nicotine. And he's one of the fierce critics of alternative nicotine products in the European Union. So he doesn't really care about the data. He just wants to clamp down in all products. He keeps believing that they are targeted for children and that they are not useful for other smokers to quit. And so he has been pushing as well for a new white ban on flavored electronic cigarettes. So basically, because they cannot enforce their own rules, they are asking for the European Union to punish all nicotine users continent-wide and to kill smoking cessation efforts in countries such as Sweden, Greece, Czech Republic, et cetera, right? So they simply are following a wrong approach and they are making it very hard for Belgian smokers to switch to safer products.
06:43 - 06:58
[Joanna Junak]
Thank you, Alberto. That's all for today. Tune in next time here on GFN TV or on our podcast. You can also find transcriptions of each episode on the GFN TV website. Thanks for watching or listening. See you next time.