Driven by the interests of the tobacco industry, Article 23 of the Finance Bill reflects the government's clear intention to scuttle the independent vaping sector in France, which has been the driving force behind tobacco harm reduction for nearly 15 years.
Given the urgency of the situation and the existential threat to the independent industry, FIVAPE is calling on the 4 million vapers and all those who support harm reduction in the public health and general interest, to join the national mobilization organized by professionals in Paris on December 9.
A necessary mobilization
With Article 23 of the Finance Bill (PLF 2026), by killing off independents, the best guarantors of responsible vape aimed at cessation, the government is attacking head-on the tool most used by French people to help them quit smoking.
Under false tax pretences, the reality is clear and brutal: the aim is to destroy the independent vape market and transfer it to state-controlled players and networks, i.e. a quasi-monopoly of tobacconists to sell tobacco industry products manufactured abroad!
- Vaping upsets the tobacco industry: it causes cigarette manufacturers to lose market share, and it doesn't cost former smokers enough. That's why, illegitimately and without any consultation, the government is trying to impose measures that sacrifice people's health and purchasing power.
- Taxing vaping means taxing smoking cessation : we're imposing a new tax - on top of the 20% VAT - the first step in a no-holds-barred tax system that aims to multiply the price of e-liquids in the short and medium term.
- Ban on online sales: We've decided to deprive millions of French people, particularly in rural areas, of easy, competitive access to quality products made in France by the independent sector.
- Store closures: We're creating a status identical to that of tobacconists, leading to the closure of thousands of independent stores - places of expertise and advice that help smokers quit.
- Assimilation to tobacco: the text creates a category of "products assimilated to manufactured tobacco". It's a veritable Pandora's box in which all the restrictions on tobacco could be applied to vaping in the future, without any precautions being taken: plain packaging, a ban on flavors, etc. All of which are proven to be detrimental to the effectiveness of vape as a smoking cessation tool.
- 25,000 jobs threatened: 4,000 jobs in online sales will be eliminated as soon as the law is applied, and all other jobs in the sector in the near future. The same number of families, all over France.
- 4,000 companies driven out of business: We're destroying a virtuous 100% French ecosystem that has conquered 85% of the national market, and giving over €1 billion of national added value to foreign countries via tobacco industry products, with a total loss of sovereignty over products - quality, control, traceability.
Vaping is not a problem, it's a solution!
For almost 15 years, vaping has had a major impact on smoking prevalence in France, across all generations, including young people. Today, one in two French people who have stopped smoking say they have used vape: that's 2 million people!
And yet, as part of the consultations for the examination of Article 23 in the Senate, the Direction Générale de la Santé sent the Finance Commission recommendations which maintain that vape is just a problem. Without any assessment of the benefits/risks, either for individuals or for society.
Worse... The administration claims that: "... with regard to the role of electronic cigarettes in helping people quit smoking, there is no scientific consensus". These words seem to have been precisely chosen to discredit the recent scientific publication by experts from the Société Francophone de Tabacologie that has been all over the medical media in recent weeks: Electronic cigarette for smoking cessation: a fast-track Delphi consensus of French-speaking experts.
If risk reduction, which does not mean the absence of risk, inherently requires a cautious approach, lying in this way, and leading decision-makers to err for lack of reliable information, is a major mistake.
OFDT, Institut Pasteur, INCa, INSERM, SFT... all these French institutions and learned societies have published studies that contradict the DGS's claims. Internationally, according to the Cochrane meta-analysis recognized by the scientific community for its probity and reliability, vaping is the most effective tool for quitting smoking, with harms that remain rare and minor. To claim that the products contain carcinogens, harm fertility, or have a negative impact on the cardiovascular system, and that they are correlated with negative health consequences, when users are using them to stop consuming a product that kills half of them, is unforgivable coming from a Ministry of Health.
Yet Dr Stephanie Rist declared: "As Minister of Health and a doctor, I know that vaping can be useful for smoking cessation. The tools needed to stop smoking must be protected." So what control does she have over her administration? Do civil servants go behind her back? And what about all the ministers who have passed through the rue de Ségur in recent years?
The strong mobilization against the measures on vaping products in article 23 of the PLF 2026 is fueled by the genuine fed-upness and deep anger of professionals, ulcerated by these baseless denigrations when they are concretely helping, every day and for years, millions of people to extricate themselves from the deadly and ruinous trap of cigarettes, carried by the sole recognition of their customers.
The vape industry is de facto at the forefront and No. 1 in the fight against smoking. To kill off the sector's independents is to give the tobacco industry the greatest gift of all. The fact that the French Ministry of Health is taking part in this manoeuvre is deeply worrying and totally incomprehensible.
More than 250,000 signatures on the petition: anger still rising!
The 3,500 stores in all the towns and villages of France are massively informing their customers of the threats to their weaning tool. In essence, vape stores and Internet sites and forums are places for exchange and discussion. They take the time to offer advice to help people quit smoking, share their experience and - all too often - comment on and deconstruct the constant misinformation about vape. At the moment, article 23 is at the heart of all conversations. Concern and anger are fuelling a historic mobilization.
At the current rate, the petition will reach 250-300,000 signatures in a few days, in less than two months.
See you in Paris on December 9
The gathering of professionals and their supporters is scheduled for 12 noon at Les Invalides, and will then proceed in procession to the Ministry of Health.
Symbolically, the names of the 250,000+ signatories will be deposited in an unprecedented form in front of the Ministry, along with a compendium of all the scientific studies that the Health Department seems to be unaware of.
ATTENTION: the symbolic locations chosen are subject to authorization by the Paris Prefecture: FIVAPE will confirm this upon validation.
A call to responsibility from our elected senators
"Vapoteurs, électeurs!" is a slogan that continues to rise among vapoteurs and professionals alike. Last week, many spent the evening watching the debates at the French National Assembly, to find out where their elected representatives stood. They heard MPs support vaping and its role in smoking cessation. They also heard the preconceived ideas, misinformation and support for the tobacco industry.
The National Assembly has rejected Article 23. This is a message for Senators to consider as the public debate on the 2026 Finance Bill begins today.