E-cigarettes should face similar restrictions to other tobacco products even if they show "promise" in some ways, according to World Health Organisation experts.
WHO officials want e-cigarettes banned in public places and work places and an end to promotion of the products to non-smokers and young people.
WHO’s intervention comes amid controversy about the benefits of e-cigarettes in helping to cut the risks from smoking.
Guidance in the UK says people who say they are using them to help give up cigarettes should not be discouraged – but there is not yet evidence that they help quitting.
The proposals are due to be discussed at a summit on tobacco control in Moscow, Russia, in October.
E-cigarettes were invented in China in 2005 and are now worth three billion dollars a year globally – with 466 brands on the market and 8,000 different flavours.
WHO warns that experimentation among teenagers is growing rapidly.
And it warns that the steam from e-cigarettes is not simply water vapour but may contain nicotine and toxic substances.
It is calling for governments to ban fruit, candy and alcohol flavours until it can be proved they are not attractive to children and adolescents.
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