{"id":6738,"date":"2022-09-20T10:38:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T08:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=6738"},"modified":"2022-09-20T10:45:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T08:45:57","slug":"dutch-flavour-ban-fears-copy-swedens-harm-reduction-model-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/dutch-flavour-ban-fears-copy-swedens-harm-reduction-model-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch flavour ban fears: Copy Sweden\u2019s harm reduction model instead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A proposed Dutch flavour ban has tobacco harm reduction advocates scrambling, prompting questions as to why the Netherlands doesn\u2019t instead follow Sweden\u2019s example when it comes to regulating nicotine products.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumers and interest groups have until September 28 to respond to a consultation launched by the Dutch government\u2019s proposed amendments to the country\u2019s tobacco laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The changes would outlaw all but 16 \u201capproved\u201d substances that could be used to make tobacco-flavoured e-liquids. Not only would all current e-liquids on the market be banned, but the proposed changes would also outlaw the development of any new flavours unless they rely on the approved substances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The changes are \u201cessentially a stealth ban on all e-liquids\u201d according to European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA), an advocacy group that is encouraging consumers to submit a response to the consultatio<\/a>n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An end to legal vaping in the Netherlands?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If enacted, the amendment would \u201csignal the end of the legal vaping market in the Netherlands, and also set a very dangerous precedent for the rest of the EU\u201d according to ETHRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes shortly after the Swedish parliament roundly rejected a flavour ban put forward by the Social Democrat-led government earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stefan Mathisson, editor of Vejpkollen<\/a>, a Sweden-based online news site covering vaping and e-cigarettes, tells Snusforumet he wasn\u2019t surprised by the Dutch flavour ban proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he called the move \u201cunprecedented\u201d in terms of the ban\u2019s potential scope and negative consequences for tobacco harm reduction advances in the Netherlands and the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it becomes impossible to entice smokers to try e-cigarettes with interesting flavors, the whole point of vaping as a harm reduction tool is lost,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSmokers will continue to smoke and kids will continue using combustible cigarettes instead, which is far more damaging to public health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden: protecting consumer choice for nicotine <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mathisson praised Swedish lawmakers\u2019 decision to reject a flavour ban<\/a> in favour of protecting consumer freedoms. Instead of restricting adult smokers\u2019 access to a variety of less harmful alternatives, Sweden instead adopted measures designed to make it harder for young people to access nicotine products, including marketing restrictions and age requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey argued that such a big restriction on a product that helps smokers transition away from combustible cigarettes to a less hazardous form of using nicotine would likely have negative consequences for public health,\u201d Mathisson explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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