Belgium bans vape flavors but reopens the door to cigarettes in supermarkets

Belgium wants to ban flavors in vaping products, but is preparing to allow cigarettes back into supermarkets. A political paradox that puts Frank Vandenbroucke, the federal Minister of Health, in a delicate position.

"In Belgium, on average, nearly two people die every hour from smoking."

Does Frank Vandenbroucke, the Belgian Minister of Health, truly want to end smoking in his country? This question arises following announcements from several Belgian media outlets. On April 30, 2026, the Belgian Council of Ministers announced that it had " approved a draft royal decree and a draft ministerial decree aimed at introducing a flavor restriction in electronic cigarettes. " The Minister of Health justified this measure by the "major role" of flavors in e-liquids, "because not only do they make the product attractive to young people, but they also mask the harmfulness of vaping."

Despite the opening sentence of the press release published on Vandenbroucke's official website, which states that in Belgium, "nearly two people [sic] on average die every hour from the consequences of smoking," the Belgian press reports that, as of January 1, 2027, cigarettes will make a grand return to supermarkets.

The ban on selling tobacco in food stores larger than 400 m² came into effect on April 1, 2025. It was subsequently challenged by several actors: Buurtsuper.be, the organization representing independent supermarkets, the company Super De Meyer, and also tobacco companies Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco, through their local subsidiaries.

On November 6, 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the applicants. The Court judged that it was "not reasonably justified to apply the sales ban only to food stores over 400 m²," since the size of a store "has no connection with the health risks associated with tobacco products" and it is not demonstrated that they "would attract a different audience." However, the Court maintained the measure until December 31, 2026 "so that the legislator can remedy the unconstitutionality."

Vaping or tobacco, Belgium seems to have made its choice

However, in early May 2026, various Belgian media outlets (dekrantenkoppen, Nieuwsblad, telesambre, etc.) indicated that Frank Vandenbroucke had decided to "not address this issue, which will lead to a cancellation of the sales ban." The Minister of Health thus allegedly chose not to amend the law that posed a problem for the Constitutional Court, and to accept that tobacco products could return to all food stores larger than 400 m² from January 1, 2027.

According to the organization representing independent supermarkets, which claims to cite "a government source," Vandenbroucke reportedly accepted the return of cigarettes to supermarkets in exchange for support for his proposal to ban flavors in vaping products. "In the background, there was also another ban that Minister Vooruit [a Flemish Belgian political party, editor's note] was keen to achieve: that of flavors in electronic cigarettes. It was approved by the government last week, despite opposition from the MR [a Francophone liberal party, editor's note]. According to a government source, Vooruit had to concede on the sale of cigarettes in supermarkets to convince the Francophone liberals.".

In Belgium, the ban on flavors in electronic cigarettes, a product recognized as the most effective tool for quitting smoking, would therefore have been exchanged for the return of tobacco to supermarkets.