TobaccoReporter logo

Tag: Netherlands

  • School Makes Students Wear Vest While Smoking

    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.”

  • Gaming Vapes Provoke Outrage in Netherlands

    Gaming Vapes Provoke Outrage in Netherlands

    Image: 12ee12/nosyrevy

    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.

  • Cigarette Seizures up in the Netherlands

    Cigarette Seizures up in the Netherlands

    Photo: think4photop

    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.

  • Dutch MPs Alarmed About Dwindling Tax Take

    Dutch MPs Alarmed About Dwindling Tax Take

    Photo: mdbildes

    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.

  • Activists Slam Cellulose Heat Sticks

    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.

  • Russia Sues Dutch Owner of Megapolis

    Russia Sues Dutch Owner of Megapolis

    Image: somemeans

    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.

  • Illicit Cigarette Sales up in the Netherlands

    Illicit Cigarette Sales up in the Netherlands

    Photo: mitarart

    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.

  • Digital Age Checks Deployed in Netherlands

    Digital Age Checks Deployed in Netherlands

    Similar technology has also been trialed in Italy. (Photo: Innovative Technologies)

    Parts of the Netherlands have implemented face scanners to check consumers’ ages before selling cigarettes to them, according to Dutch News.

    About 100 outlets have opted for face scanners so far. The camera uses artificial intelligence to scan a customer’s face and estimates their age based on features such as skin condition and wrinkles. If the customer is thought to be over 25, the transaction can continue, but if not, the machine will ask to scan the customer’s ID.

    “The process is similar to that at airports,” said Theo Snijders, CEO of H@nd, the scan-making firm.

    The legal framework was devised with product safety organization NVWA, privacy watchdogs and lawyers to ensure that customers’ personal data are not compromised. The scanners do not store data and only record the number of scans. According to Snijders, a scan is not a condition for buying tobacco as that would be illegal.

    Sellers caught not complying with age check requirements could face fines up to €9,000 or a temporary loss of their license to sell tobacco products.

    Beginning July 2024, tobacco products can only be legally sold at specialist stores and gas stations.

    Tech firms and vape stores have been experimenting with digital age-verification tools in various markets. Tobacco Reporter profiled one such project in Italy  in its December 2023 edition. (See “Beyond Face Value”).

  • Netherlands Probes Tobacconist Support

    Netherlands Probes Tobacconist Support

    Photo: jordi2r

    The Netherlands’ food and consumer product safety organization, NVWA, will investigate cigarette manufacturers’ support of tobacconists, which critics insist amounts to illegal advertising, reports Dutch News.

    Dutch law prohibits the advertising, promotion, sponsoring and marketing of tobacco products.

    The investigation was prompted by a news report that said Philip Morris International is giving money to people who are opening new tobacco shops ahead of a ban on the sale of cigarettes in supermarkets scheduled to take effect in July.

    In the runup to the ban, the number of specialist cigarette shops, often in the direct vicinity of supermarkets, has risen for the first time in more than 10 years.

    “A lot of adult smokers will be looking for new outlets,” a PMI spokesperson told Distrifood. “We are very willing to work with those entrepreneurs who share our vision of the future,” he said.

    Almost a quarter of the Dutch population smokes.

  • Dutch Retail Bonuses Not Advertising

    Dutch Retail Bonuses Not Advertising

    Photo: fizkes

    Paying retailers bonuses for meeting sales targets does not represent a violation of tobacco advertising restrictions, the Netherlands’ top business court ruled, reports Dutch News.

    The product safety board NVWA fined 11 manufacturers and wholesalers for giving bonuses to shopkeepers who sold pre-agreed-upon quantities of cigarettes or placed products in highly visible spots. The NVWA stated that these practices were against the tobacco advertising ban. The companies, however, argued that they were “quite normal business practices.”

    The Dutch business court found that the NVWA applied the law too widely, stating that advertising only exists if its purpose is to encourage consumers to use the products.

    Starting July 1, supermarkets in the Netherlands will be banned from selling tobacco. Beginning 2032, only specialist tobacco shops will be allowed to sell cigarettes and rolling tobacco.