Display ban to be imposed

The Dutch government is working on draft legislative that would ban the retail display of tobacco products, according to a statement given to parliament by the State Secretary of Public Health Martin van Rijn, as reported by Janene Pieters for the NL Times.

Van Rijn was said to have given the involved industry associations until December 15 to come up with their own proposals, but their plans were deemed to be inadequate.

Van Rijn said the organizations had not gone far enough with their plans.

The NSO, the organization representing tobacconists and convenience stores, was said to have proposed to ban facade advertising from 2020, while proposals by representatives of service stations foresaw a partial display ban by the middle of 2019.

Because the organizations’ proposals had not met parliament’s demand for a display ban, the government would come with a legislative proposal to do so, Van Rijn said.