Czech Republic wants to ban flavourings for vaping products

The Czech Ministry of Health is preparing a decree to ban all flavors except tobacco flavor for vaping devices. The decree is expected to come into force next year. In addition, a new excise tax on e-cigarettes is expected to come into force in September, with further increases planned in the coming years.[1].

Although the law prohibits their sale to persons under the age of 18, many sellers do not comply with this ban and flavored e-cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular among Czech teenagers.

According to Matthias Foshum, director of the Department of Public Health Protection at the Ministry of Health, the sale of e-cigarettes is currently less about encouraging traditional smokers to switch to them, than, mainly because of the sweet flavours, about recruiting non-smokers, including children.^[2]The Ministry's position is based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization. The health ministry said that this was currently only a working version of the decree and that its final form was still to be discussed.

A limited list of permitted ingredients and neutral packaging

The ministry is expected to draw up a list of 16 specific ingredients that can be used to create tobacco flavours. At the end of 2023, the Netherlands adopted a government amendment banning all flavours for e-cigarettes, with the exception of tobacco flavour. To achieve this, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) had proposed a restrictive list of 16 permitted flavouring ingredients that would allow the exclusive production of e-liquids with tobacco flavours.

The Czech decree will also require plain packaging for vaping products, eliminating colors and other features such as shiny surfaces or colored stickers. The ministry noted that current vaping devices are sold in attractive packaging that does not resemble an e-cigarette but rather resembles lipsticks, highlighters, pencils, chewing gum, etc.

These new provisions aim to limit the initiation of young people to these products and to reduce their consumption. The results of the 2022 Global Tobacco Survey show that the frequency of use of e-cigarettes by young people aged 13 to 15 in the Czech Republic[3]  increased from 11.2 % in 2016 to 21.4 % in 2022.

Flavor bans expand

In the European Union, characterizing flavors have been banned since May 2016 for traditional cigarettes and rolling tobacco, and menthol products have been banned since May 2020. In November 2022, the European Commission published the directive 2022/2100, extending the ban on characterizing flavors to heated tobacco products. Several countries have decided to go further and ban all flavors (except tobacco and/or menthol depending on the country) for vaping devices, such as Slovenia, Finland, Hungary, Estonia, the Netherlands and Denmark. In the United States, the ban on flavors in vaping products is effective in several states and more than 375 localities.

In France, the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) has propose early 2023, the ban on flavors with the exception of tobacco flavor for all non-pharmaceutical products containing nicotine. This measure is mentioned in the new National Tobacco Control Program (PNLT) 2023-2027 which also includes the implementation of plain packaging for all of these products.

©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] Czech Health Ministry moves to ban flavored e-cigarettes, cites youth appeal, Prague Morning, published August 19, 2024, accessed August 20, 2024

[2][2] Jan Mareš, Ministerstvo zdravotnictví chce zakázat ochucené vaporizéry. Lákají prý děti, TN Nova, published August 4, 2024, accessed August 20, 20

[3] Czech Republic Fact Sheet – Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2022