The Netherlands will delay a ban on flavored e-cigarettes by six months. The decision to delay the implementation of the law, which was due to come into force on July 1, was taken by the Dutch Cabinet (Council of Ministers).

The flavour ban, approved by Cabinet in May last year, will only allow the sale of tobacco flavoured vaping products. To enforce these restrictions, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has created a list of approved flavors based on Health Canada's list for its planned flavor ban.

The list includes two flavors known to cause cancer -- isophorone and pyridine, the Dutch vaping association Esigbond said. Trade organisations have alerted the government to the issue, Cabinet has delayed the flavour ban and RIVM has reconsidered the list of allowed flavours.

Esigbond discovered the link between the Dutch condiment list and the Canadian condiment list through a document request through the country's Document Public Access Act (WOB).

Esigbond chairman Emil 't Hart said: "Because of our extensive knowledge, we have offered in the past to help governments consider a practical policy on vaping. This mistake could easily have been avoided if the government talked to us.

The flavor ban was first announced in June 2020 by former health minister Paul Blokhuis, a major proponent of restrictions on vaping. A public consultation launched in December of that year received a record number of comments, mostly disapproval, and vaping advocates filed a petition with the government signed by 19,000 consumers.

A 2020 study by the Trimbos Institute, commissioned by the Ministry of Health, justifies the rules. The study features carefully selected science to support its conclusion that flavored vaping products appeal to teenage users and that there is growing evidence that e-cigarettes are an introduction to tobacco cigarettes.

Seven European countries, including the Netherlands, have passed flavour bans. Estonia, Finland, Hungary and Ukraine currently have flavor restrictions. Denmark's flavor ban is set to begin on April 1, and Lithuania will ban flavors on July 1. Sweden is currently considering a flavor ban. No European country has a blanket ban on all vaping products.