Almost nine in ten people who vape in the Netherlands are using products that are either illegal or sold through illegal channels, according to new research commissioned by the health ministry.

Health minister Sophie Hermans used the findings to announce a package of measures against black market vapes on Friday, telling MPs that current rules are “clearly insufficient”.

The study, Donkere wolken by research agency Bureau Beke, quantifies a problem doctors and anti-smoking campaigners have been raising for over a year. Flavoured vapes have been banned since January 2024, but remain widely available in corner shops, petrol stations and through dealers on Snapchat and other platforms.

Hermans, of the right-wing liberal VVD, said she would work on a law change making it illegal to simply have illegal vapes in stock. At the moment, the food and consumer safety board NVWA can only seize products once it has proved they are being sold, which in practice has meant inspectors buying vapes undercover before they can act.

Maximum fines will also be raised, and the NVWA is to be given extra powers to tackle online and social media sales.

The announcement comes two days after broadcaster RTL revealed that 244 outlets had carried on selling illegal vapes after repeated penalties, with one shopkeeper fined 14 times. Current fines can already run up to €22,500.

More restrictions on the way

Parts of Hermans’ announcement build on measures that were already set in motion. The possession ban was floated in March 2025, and a separate round of fine increases was announced in November, due to take effect on 1 July.

A separate bill before parliament would, from the same date, restrict vape sales to tobacco specialist shops only. The Council of State, in its advice on that bill, warned that the restriction is likely to push more sales under the counter, onto messaging apps and to street dealers.

The Bureau Beke researchers also found that people involved in the illegal vape trade are sometimes linked to other forms of crime, and that most products are manufactured in and exported from China.