The Belgians currently get supplied nicotine e-liquids from abroad
The legislation concerning the electronic cigarette is not really clear in Belgium. The owner of several stores, Didier Willot, evokes a “complete legal vacuum” and regrets not being allowed to sell e-liquid containing nicotine in his Belgian shops, as he does to the same customers through his French e-shop.
Mathieu Capouet, from the cabinet of the Federal Minister of Health, assures that “the sale of nicotine in electronic cigarettes is illegal” saying that this substance “can only be sold in pharmacies”.
Belgium might ban online sale of electronic cigarettes
The transposition of the TPD in the Belgian law should change the deal. Indeed, the sale of electronic cigarettes containing nicotine will be allowed under TPD’s conditions:
- The e-liquid nicotine concentration should not exceed 20mg/ml,
- health warnings must appear on bottles,
- manufacturers must notify the sale of their devices to authorities six months prior to marketing, and
- advertising will be strictly controlled.
According to RTBF.be, Belgium would choose prohibiting online trading of vaporizers on top of European measures.
Not all the Belgians are in favor of the harm reduction device. The tobacco specialist Antoine Fremault fears that these products may be a “gateway to classic smoking” even though he does not deny that the device can be a way to “encourage smokers to quit.”
The Superior Council of Belgian Health, in a notice published last October 2015, however acknowledged that the electronic cigarette with nicotine may be useful for smoking cessation.
The barometer published recently by the Belgian Foundation against Cancer showed a modest use of the electronic cigarette but three-fold increase over the last two years.
