Dutch Supermarkets to Ban Cigarette Sales

The Netherlands will ban the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in supermarkets from 2024, reports Reuters.

Together with a ban on cigarette vending machines from 2022, the supermarket ban will remove around 11,000 of the current 16,000 tobacco vending points in the country, the government said on Friday.

Supermarkets currently make up 55 percent of all tobacco sales in the Netherlands.

Since 2008, smoking has been prohibited in bars and restaurants. Earlier this year, all smoking areas at train stations were removed, while office buildings need to follow suit by 2022.

Around 22 percent of all Dutch aged 18 and above smoked on a regular basis last year, according to health research institute Trimbos, down from 26 percent in 2014.

Last month, the Netherlands introduced plain packaging for tobacco products. Supermarkets were already required to place tobacco products in closed cabinets, out of sight of potential customers.