Tag: Belgium

  • Belgium to Curb Tobacco Vending Machines

    Belgium to Curb Tobacco Vending Machines

    Photo: Andrey Popov

    Belgium will prohibit tobacco vending machines in bars and restaurants but not in supermarkets, reports The Brussels Times, citing an Oct. 19 decision by the country’s Parliamentary Committee on Public Health.

    The federal government backed a bill by Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke to ban tobacco vending machines in the hospitality industry. Federal MP Els Van Hoof, who paved the way with a similar bill in 2016, stressed that the ban should make it harder for minors to access cigarettes.

    Since 2006, tobacco vending machines in Belgium can be accessed only with a special proof-of-age coin that may not be given to minors. In reality, however, the coins have been widely available, including to underage buyers.

    The ban will take effect after a yet-to-be-determined transition period to give the industry time to remove the machines.

    With its new rule, Belgium will join the Netherlands, the U.K. and France, among other countries that restrict mechanical sales of tobacco products.

  • Belgium: One in Five Cigarettes Untaxed

    Belgium: One in Five Cigarettes Untaxed

    Photo: paolo

    More than one in five cigarettes smoked in Belgium are untaxed, reports The Brussels Times, citing new research carried out by Cimabel, the Belgium-Luxembourg federation of cigarette manufacturers.

    A study of discarded packets and cigarette butts collected between April 18 and May 9 found that 21.8 percent of cigarettes consumed had escaped Belgian tax authorities, accounting for around €700 million ($699.69) in lost tax revenue.

    Of the untaxed cigarettes, 1.9 percent were counterfeit. The remaining 19.9 percent were legally brought into Belgium from countries with a lower tax burden. Of the cigarettes purchased outside of Belgium, more than half (51.8 percent) came from Bulgaria. Other countries of origin included Poland (7.8 percent of supply), Turkey (6.88 percent) and Romania (3.67 percent).

    During Cimabel’s previous semi-annual survey, which took place in October 2021, the share of untaxed cigarettes was 13.8 percent. The organization attributes the increase in tax-evading tobacco products to drastic tax hikes introduced on April 1, 2022, which have encouraged smokers to find cheaper ways of purchasing cigarettes.

    Cimabel urged the Belgian government to refrain from further tobacco tax hikes.

    “As long as the federal government continues to drastically increase excise duties on tobacco products each year, the demand for cheap cigarettes will continue to grow, and criminal organizations will continue their illegal practices on Belgian territory,” the federation warned.

  • Belgium Shuts Down Illegal Cigarette Factory

    Belgium Shuts Down Illegal Cigarette Factory

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Belgian Customs, with the help of Europol’s European Financial Economic Crime Center (EFECC), raided and shut down an illegal cigarette manufacturing factory in a former pet hotel in Arlon, Belgium, according to Europol.

    Belgian authorities seized the complete cigarette manufacturing machinery and arrested 14 workers, mainly from Eastern Europe. Also seized were 4 tons of tobacco and 2 million counterfeit cigarettes.

    Additionally, 40 million counterfeit cigarettes were seized in trailers in an industrial area in Duffel, Belgium. These cigarettes were presumed to have been manufactured at the illegal factory in Arlon and were most likely destined for the black market in France and the U.K.

    French Customs was also involved in the investigation, seizing over 25 tons of cigarettes and 16 tons of tobacco from the same organized crime group in the city of La Longueville.

  • Prosecution for Exchanging Price Info

    Prosecution for Exchanging Price Info

    Photo: promesaartstudio

    The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has decided to prosecute Philip Morris Benelux, Établissements L. Lacroix Fils, JT International Company Netherlands and British American Tobacco Belgium for the exchange of information on prices between competitors.

    Together, the accused parties account for 90 percent of cigarette consumption in Belgium. The competition prosecutor alleges the existence of anticompetitive practices that lasted for several years and consisted of repeated exchanges of information on their future prices through wholesalers.

    According to a BCA press release, the manufacturers sent information on their own future prices to their wholesalers and, through the wholesalers, received information on the future prices of their competitors.

    Such conduct may be contrary to Article IV.1 CEL and Article 101 TFEU, according to the BCA.  

    This case will now be examined by the Competition College. The defendants will have an opportunity to defend themselves against these objections in front of the college. The parties will be able to submit written comments to the Competition College and will be heard at a hearing.

  • ‘Tobacco firms breached Belgian competition law’

    ‘Tobacco firms breached Belgian competition law’

    Photo: Schlierner

    Belgium has charged four cigarette manufacturers with breaching competition law by exchanging information of future prices to wholesalers, reports Reuters.

    The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) identified the firms as subsidiaries of Philip Morris International, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco and British American Tobacco, which together account for 90 percent of cigarette consumption in Belgium.

    “The competition prosecutor alleges the existence of anti-competitive practices that lasted for several years and consisted in repeated exchanges of information on their future prices through wholesalers,” the BCA wrote in a statement.

    It said that, through the wholesalers, they received information on the future prices of competitors.

    A formal inquiry started in May 2017, followed by raids a month later as part of the investigation.

  • Juul Labs to Exit South Korea, Five EU Markets

    Juul Labs to Exit South Korea, Five EU Markets

    Juul Labs said today it would end operations in South Korea, a year after it entered the market. The company states the cause was its inability to gain market share amid government health warnings.

    In a statement, Juul Labs stated that since the beginning of the year it was working through a restructuring process aimed a re-establishing a viable business in South Korea by significantly reducing costs and making changes to its products.

    “However, these innovations will not be available as anticipated,” the statement said. “As a result, we intend to cease our operations in South Korea.”

    In October last year, South Korea’s health ministry advised people to stop vaping because of growing health concerns, especially after a case of pneumonia was reported in a 30-year-old e-cigarette user that month, according to Reuters news article.

    The announcement prompted convenience store chains and duty free shops to suspend the sale of flavored liquid e-cigarettes, including those made by Juul Labs.

    In December, South Korean health authorities said they had found vitamin E acetate, which may be linked to lung illnesses, in some liquid e-cigarette products made by Juul Labs, but the company denied using the material, according to Reuters.

    Juul Labs launched a product portfolio that was specifically developed for the Korean market in May 2019, but “our performance has not met expectations in terms of meeting the needs of our Korean adult smokers to successfully transition from combustible cigarettes,” according to the statement. “We have learned through this process and are focused on innovating our product portfolio.”

    Juul Labs is also reportedly ready to withdraw from a handful of EU markets as well, claiming the regulatory environment has become overly hostile to the device.

    According to BuzzFeed News, Juul will soon remove its products from shelves in Austria, Belgium, Portugal, France, and Spain.

    The news outlet reports the European Union’s strict requirement that e-cigs contain no more than 20 milligrams of nicotine makes it difficult for Juul to do business there.

    Austria, Belgium, and Portugal are very small markets for Juul, but the leading e-cig manufacturer generates significant sales from France and Spain. It will exit France by the end of the year, but withdraw from the other countries in July, paring its presence in global markets to a narrow selection that includes Germany, Italy, Russia, and the U.K.

  • A nice little earner

    A nice little earner

    Tobacco users in Belgium contributed €2.373 billion in excise tax to the state’s treasury last year, according to a story by Jason Bennett for the Brussels Times citing a Sudpresse newspapers report.

    Tobacco excise in 2018 was said to have been increased by €123.8 million on that of 2017, ‘after stagnating for four years’.

    Border sales are thought to have played a role in the increase, partly because the price of a pack of cigarettes was increased by €1 in France in March 2018.

    Tobacco excise in Belgium in 2018 accounted for about 27 percent of the treasury’s total excise income, €8.83 billion.

  • Quitting made cheaper

    Quitting made cheaper

    Smokers in Belgium will from February 1 pay a lot less than previously to try anti-smoking medication, and they will be reimbursed for up to three courses of treatments every five years, according to a story in The Brussels Times.

    Under the new scheme, smokers will be able to get a starter kit that they are required to try for two weeks before they are granted access to a complete course of anti-smoking medication.

    The kit sells for €49.95, which, currently, the smokers must pay.

    But from the start of next month, those under a preferential regime will have to pay €9.80, while everyone else will have to pay €14.80.

    Also from the start of next month, smokers will be reimbursed for up to three complete courses of treatment every five years, whereas currently they can be reimbursed only for two treatments in that time period.

  • Standardized packs on way

    Standardized packs on way

    Belgium is to introduce standardized tobacco packaging, according to a story in The Brussels Times quoting the Federal Minister for Public Health Maggie De Block.
    The minister, who announced the plan a matter of weeks ago, was said to have received ‘rapid agreement’ from government colleagues.
    The story suggested the new packaging would reflect that first introduced in Australia, with huge health warnings and minimal branding beyond the brand name.
    No other details were given.

  • Brussels threat to Belgium

    Brussels threat to Belgium

    The Belgian Minister of Public Health Maggie de Block wants to ban menthol tobacco before the EU’s 2020 deadline but is being confronted with European Commission threats to take Belgium to court should it persist, according to a story in the Brussels Times quoting a report in L’Echo.
    In 2014, the EU decided to ban tobacco products delivering distinctive, non-tobacco flavors, though it delayed the imposition of the ban until May 20, 2020, in the case of products with a market share of three percent or more across the EU.
    The directive’s text requires also that the banning of flavored tobacco products ‘should extend over a long period to allow consumers enough time to switch to other products’.
    De Block apparently prepared a draft of a royal decree transposing the European directive into Belgian law, but without taking into consideration the temporary exemption granted to menthol tobacco.
    “Protection of health, especially for young people, justifies the application of this measure at the earliest,’’ said de Block.
    But the Commission sent the Belgian government a warning, threatening to take the matter to the EU Court of Justice should it not change its mind.
    A confrontation seems to be looming. The Belgium cabinet has confirmed its determination to ban menthol before the European 2020 deadline.