Tag: Netherlands

Netherlands Urged to Reverse Tax Hike

A Dutch lawmaker wants to reverse a recent increase in tobacco excise duties to boost government revenue, reports The NL Times.
On April 1, the Netherlands increased the excise duty per pack of 20 cigarettes from €5.85 to €7.81. A pack now costs more than €11. However, revenues from the measure have fallen short of expectations. Recent figures from the Ministry of Finance reveal that the tax increase will raise €550 million less than anticipated.
Research by the RIVM showed that around 10 percent of smokers quit because of the more expensive cigarettes. The researchers also noted that the share of cigarettes from abroad increased from 24-28 percent to 35-39 percent.
Concerned about the Netherland’s lower tax take, BBB parliamentarian Henk Vermeer urged the government to undo the measure, arguing that it would be “stealing from the treasury” if it failed to do so. According to the BBB, people crossing the border to buy their cigarettes likely do their other shopping there too. “That also means less revenue from VAT and corporate tax,” Vermeer said.
Antismoking groups vehemently oppose Vermeer’s proposal, arguing that the purpose of the excise increase was not to raise money, but to discourage people from smoking.
“Making cigarettes more expensive is very important and works,” KWF Kankerbestrijding Director Caral van Gils was quoted as saying. “There is more than enough scientific evidence for that.”
December 4, 2024
Tax Hike Boosts ‘Tobacco Tourism’

Image: Antony McAulay
A recent tobacco tax hike in the Netherlands has boosted tobacco tourism to Luxembourg, reports The Luxembourg Times.
Dutch smokers have been chartering buses to stock up on cigarettes in the Grand Duchy, where cigarettes are considerable cheaper than in surrounding countries.
For regular smokers, a trip to Luxembourg can be very profitable. Passengers on one such bus said the journey, which takes six hours one way, costs around €40 per person and allowed them to save between €400 and €500 on cigarette purchases in just one trip.
The Netherlands allows smokers to bring up to four cartons of cigarettes from one EU country.
According to De Telegraaf, the tax-fueled increase in demand has led to the bus operator to expand its schedule.
Luxembourg is not the only country attracting tobacco tourists. A few months ago, Le Parisien reported on a similar excursion from the Toulouse region to Andorra, where taxes on tobacco and alcohol are much lower than in France.
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November 11, 2024
Dutch Flavor Ban Lawful: Court

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The Dutch ban on flavored vapes is lawful, a court in The Hague ruled, arguing that the harmfulness of e-cigarettes and the “attractive effect” of sweet flavors on young people have been sufficiently established, reports The NL Times.
The verdict came in response to a legal challenge brought by British American Tobacco and Nicoventures.
In 2020, the government prohibited all vape flavors other than tobacco, citing not only the receptiveness of young people to such tastes, but also the risk that sweet-tasting e-cigarettes would encourage people to transition to regular cigarettes.
According to the court, any gateway effect does not need to be scientifically proven to justify a ban. The harmfulness vaping and the appeal of sweet flavors to young people are sufficient to justify the measure, the judges noted.
In their appeal, BAT and Nicoventures argued that the measure disrupts the free traffic of goods within the European Union. They also said there was no evidence to suggest that the ban would benefit public health, and they warned that it would discourage smokers from trying to quit cigarettes with the help of e-cigarettes.
The court, however, ruled that the state has the “political discretion to give more weight to the interests of the youth and of a future smoke-free generation in the context of public health.”
And while acknowledging that the ban infringes on the free movement of goods, the court noted that this is permitted to protect public health if it is “appropriate, necessary and proportionate.”
November 7, 2024
School Makes Students Wear Vest While Smoking

Image: Seetwo
A high school in the Netherlands has banned smoking and vaping unless students have written permission from their parents and wear a yellow high-visibility vest while doing it, reports DutchNews.
The measure is aimed at discouraging unhealthy habits and at involving parents in school policy.
“It’s one of the things that used to be part of the parents’ responsibilities but are now being left to the school,” school board Chairman Hans van Beekum told De Telegraaf. “And the image of all those kids vaping in front of the school was horrible. We needed to do something,” he said.
So far, only nine parents at the 1,300-pupil Lyceum aan Zee school in Den Helder said their children could vape or smoke during breaks. Some parents objected to the yellow vest and even made comparisons to the yellow Star of David that the Nazis required Jews to wear during the WWII occupation of the Netherlands.
School Director Hielke ter Veld said the vests are simply meant to identify those who can smoke from the rest of the pupils.
Ter Veld hopes the measure will also discourage smoking and vaping among students. “Most pupils won’t want to ask permission from their parents and wear the vest,” she said. “They will smoke less and that will hopefully become part of the school culture. If we only get a few pupils to stop smoking then it’s worth it.”
November 7, 2024
Gaming Vapes Provoke Outrage in Netherlands

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New vapes with integrated music and gaming functionalities have provoked outrage in the Netherlands, according to Dutch News.
Sophie Cohen, a doctor specializing in children’s lung problems, described the deliberate combination of addictive things such as nicotine and gaming as “extremely twisted.”
“The awful thing is I am not surprised the industry has come up with something to make children even more addicted,” Cohen said. “That is their earnings model. The younger the brain, the more receptive it is to addiction.”
The NVWA, the Dutch product safety board, is aware of the “smart vapes.” The agency says children are likely getting hold of them abroad, but several kids told broadcaster NOS that the vapes are available “behind the counter” at shops in the country.
Vincent Karremans, junior health minister, called the vapes and their attractiveness to youth “scandalous” and said he’s working on a plan to tackle the illegal vape trade.
October 24, 2024
Cigarette Seizures up in the Netherlands

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The number of illegal cigarettes seized in the Netherlands to date this year has already reached the volume confiscated in all of 2023, reports DutchNews.
Customs and finance ministry investigators seized 120 million illegal cigarettes since the start of 2024. The biggest haul so far this year was made in Rotterdam, where officials found 27 million cigarettes, which would have generated €6 million in tax had they been legal.
In July, customs officials confiscated 8 million illegal cigarettes in Someren. That same month, they seized 6 million cigarettes and 4.5 tons of rolling tobacco in Rotterdam.
Critics attribute the increase in seizures to rising prices. In April, the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes rose to around €11 in the Netherlands, encouraging more smokers to source their tobacco abroad.
In a 2023 empty pack survey, a quarter of cigarettes had avoided Dutch tobacco duties, up from 15 percent in 2021.
While nearly 19 percent of the cigarettes had been bought abroad, 4 percent were either fake branded cigarettes or had been smuggled. Two years previously, just 1 percent were either fake or illegal.
Research by the public health institute RIVM indicates that smokers buy around 10 percent of their tobacco abroad.
September 16, 2024
Dutch MPs Alarmed About Dwindling Tax Take

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Dutch lawmakers are growing concerned about dwindling tax receipts as legal tobacco consumption plummets in the wake of higher tobacco duties, reports DutchNews.
In April, the price of cigarettes increased to more than €11 ($12.14) per pack, a figure that includes €7.80 in taxes.
According to the finance ministry, tobacco sales fell 40 percent in June and 30 percent in July and August, causing the government to miss its revenue targets.
“The government’s forecast of a €400 million increase in taxes threatens to become a loss of €100 million,” tobacco retail group NSO said.
Figures from the regional statistics office suggest some 35 percent of tobacco products consumed in the Netherlands are not bought there. Government research last year showed 25 percent of discarded cigarettes packs originated abroad.
Research by the public health institute RIVM also indicates that smokers buy around 10 percent of their tobacco abroad, either importing it themselves or asking others to do so.
Members of the pro-countryside party BBB called on the finance minister to confirm whether the tax figures are accurate. “If that is the case, we have to reverse the tax increase,” said Member of Parliament Henk Vermeer.
In July, customs officials seized 6 million cigarettes and 4.5 tons of rolling tobacco at Rotterdam port. If seized product had been sold officially, it would have generated €3.9 million in tax income, officials said.
September 10, 2024
Activists Slam Cellulose Heat Sticks

Photo: Kuznyechova Yevgenia
Anti-tobacco activists contend that Philip Morris International is trying to circumvent the Dutch ban on flavored tobacco and vape products with its Levia heat sticks, reports Dutch News.
Made with cellulose rather than tobacco, Levia heat sticks are considered an herbal product and are thus not covered by the country’s tobacco legislation. The sticks retail online for €6.60 ($7.21) per pack of 20 and are sold in two flavors—“island beat,” which is menthol, and berry-flavored “electro-rouge.”
The Netherlands banned menthol in cigarettes in May 2020 and outlawed flavored vape products in early 2024.
Campaign group Rookvrije Generatie says Levia is “a trick” to keep on selling smoking products with flavor. “They might not contain tobacco, but they are packed with addictive nicotine,” spokesman Dave Krajenbrink was quoted as saying.
Legislators are reportedly considering an amendment that would extend the flavor ban to tobacco-free nicotine products.
August 6, 2024
Russia Sues Dutch Owner of Megapolis

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The Russia government is seeking to suspend the corporate rights of Megapolis Distribution, the Dutch owner of Russian tobacco distributor Megapolis Group, reports Interfax.
On July 18, Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry filed a lawsuit against Megapolis Distribution in the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region, according to records.
The Russian company was earlier included in Russia’s list of economically significant organizations.
The court has agreed to hear the lawsuit, and the first hearing is scheduled for August 8.
Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and just before the EU imposed sanctions on him, Russian billionaire Igor Kasaev, who owns 40 percent of Megapolis, funneled €8 million ($8.71 million) through the Netherlands, according to the NL Times.
Kasaev is known to have ties to the Kremlin and the Russian arms industry. He keeps his shares in Megapolis, the largest distributor of cigarettes in Russia, in the letterbox company registered in The Hague. The sanctions froze Kesaev’s assets in his Hague company, “trapping” some €650 million in assets in the Netherlands.
July 22, 2024
Illicit Cigarette Sales up in the Netherlands

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Illicit cigarette sales in the Netherlands are rising in the wake of tax hikes, according to Dutch News.
Researchers collect empty cigarette packs every two years to identify their origins, and in 2023, 25 percent contained cigarettes that had not been subject to Dutch tobacco duties, up from 15 percent in 2021.
The research showed that 19 percent of the cigarettes were bought in other countries, but 4 percent were either fake branded cigarettes or had been smuggled into the country, up from 1 percent in the previous study.
“The big profits criminals can make with duty fraud and illegal production and trade are building up criminal assets,” the ministries said in a briefing. “And that allows them to finance other criminal activities.”
RIVM, a public health institute, also released research showing that smokers buy about 10 percent of their tobacco abroad, either by importing it themselves or having others import it for them.
According to the RIVM research, price increases aid in quitting, with 28 percent of participants stating they tried to quit and 18 percent successfully quitting.
Earlier this year, the price of a pack of cigarettes increased by about €1 ($1.08) to €11.10 per pack of 20. The increase aims to curb smoking rates.
The price of rolling tobacco packs increased by €3.60 to €24, with further increases expected. Cigarette taxes are now around €7.81 per pack.
June 12, 2024