Tag: Netherlands

Netherlands to Ban Nicotine Pouches

Photo: Andrii
The Netherlands will ban the sale of nicotine pouches and expand the rules for tobacco to cover all other types of tobacco-free nicotine products, the government announced on April 21.
Currently, Dutch law permits sales of nicotine pouches only if they contain less than 0.035 grammes of nicotine.
The new rules will also prohibit the use of nicotine pouches and other tobacco-free nicotine products in places where smoking is not allowed.
The government said it would also end all advertising for tobacco-free nicotine products, a segment that tobacco companies have invested heavily in as move away from combustible products to less harmful cigarette alternatives.
“The tobacco industry keeps launching new products that make it easy for young people to come into contact with nicotine,” health deputy minister Maarten van Ooijen was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“This is bad, because nicotine is addictive and harmful. That’s why I’m glad we will now treat these products the same as tobacco products,” he said.
April 21, 2023
Dutch Institute Urges Darker Cigarettes

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Changing the color of cigarettes from white to a darker hue would make them less attractive to (potential) smokers, reports Dutch News, citing the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Darker colors suggest a stronger taste and more damage to health, RIVM researchers noted. White, by contrast, is associated with a safer product. Selling cigarettes in darker colors would help the government achieve its aims of zero children smoking and only 5 percent of over 18s smoking by 2040, as stated in the national prevention agreement, the RIVM said.
Changing the color of cigarettes would require a change in Dutch law, however, which states that cigarettes should be white. Another option to discourage smoking would be printing health warnings both on the packaging and the cigarettes, according to the RIVM.
The RIVM opposes a ban on filters, which contain plastics and harmful chemicals, because it may create the impression that filterless cigarettes are less unhealthy. The RIVM is compiling a list of ingredients in tobacco and vaping capsules that may be banned by law, including vitamins.
The results of the RIVM research will be used in policy to discourage smoking, Junior Health Minister Maarten van Ooijen said, although some recommendations, such as lowering nicotine content, would have to be decided on a European level.
April 17, 2023
Netherlands Flavor Ban Effective Next Year

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The Netherlands will ban all e-cigarette flavors except tobacco effective Oct. 1, 2023, reports NL Times, citing a government amendment to the Staatscourant. The ban extends to pre-filled e-cigarettes and disposable vapes as well.
The ban was announced in 2020, and will also include banning packaging that depicts anything other than tobacco and restricting rules for naming products.
The RIVM, a public health institute, created a list of 16 ingredients that manufacturers can use to make tobacco flavors.
December 1, 2022
Netherlands Wants to Restrict Cigarette Sales to Tobacconists

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The Dutch government plans to restrict sales of cigarettes to tobacconists within 10 years, reports the NL Times.
Supermarkets will have to stop selling tobacco products in 2024 while gas stations and convenience stores may continue selling them until 2030. Over the following two years, all nontobacconist stores will have to phase out tobacco sales.
Earlier this year, supermarket market leader Albert Heijn announced a trial with no tobacco sales at its Pijnacker store ahead of the 2024 ban. The pharmacy chain Kruidvat removed tobacco from sale in 2018, followed by Lidl Nederland.
The government also intends to further reduce the number of places where smoking is allowed. For example, it plans to ban smoking at playgrounds and sports parks from 2025.
In addition, the government wants to further increase the prices of tobacco products. Next year and in 2024, a pack of cigarettes will become €1.20 ($1.24) more expensive on average.
While cigarette prices in the Netherlands have risen steadily in recent years, they have remained stable in terms of affordability due to wage increases. On average, Dutch smokers consistently spent 2.5 percent of their annual income on cigarettes throughout that period.
The Dutch government aims for a “smoking-free generation” by 2040.
November 27, 2022
Activists Demand Removal of Cigarettes From Dutch Stores

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Anti-smoking activists have demanded the removal of all cigarettes from Dutch store shelves following a court ruling on emissions, reports Dutch News.
On Nov. 4, judges in Rotterdam said there are “strong indications” that filter cigarettes on sale in the Netherlands may break EU limits on tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide.
The ruling gives the Dutch food and product safety board, NVWA, six weeks to start ensuring that the law is followed properly and that cigarettes do not exceed EU limits.
Tests carried out by the RIVM public health institute in 2018 showed the amount of tar in a cigarette can be up to 26 times the official norm and that nicotine and carbon monoxide levels are also too high in most brands.
In its tests, the RIVM covered the ventilation holes in the filter paper, a method that experts say more accurately mimics the way consumers smoke their cigarettes than the prevailing methods, which leave the ventilation holes uncovered.
Until the European Commission comes up with a measurement method that accurately reflects the emissions that smokers are inhaling, there is no guarantee that the filter cigarettes sold in the Netherlands comply with the directives, the Rotterdam court said.
Wanda de Kanter of the anti-youth smoking body Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd said the ruling effectively ended the use of fraudulent measurements for emissions of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. “This has enabled the tobacco industry to make and keep people addicted for years, but the ruling makes it clear this practice cannot last,” she said.
“The NVWA must immediately remove all cigarettes from the shelves.”
November 5, 2022
IEVA Opposes Dutch Flavor Ban

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The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) has expressed concerns about the Draft Amendment of the Tobacco and Smoking Products Order for regulation of e-cigarette flavors presented by the Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports.
According to the statement submitted by the Dutch authorities, the draft amendment intends to ban flavors other than tobacco in e-liquids in order to “reduce the temptation for young people and former smokers to purchase e-cigarettes.” The measure, authorities note, is “justified by the need to protect public health.”
The proposal also suggests that the Netherlands will be more likely to achieve its objective of a smoke-free generation by 2040 if e-cigarettes are rendered less attractive.
According to the IEVA, the proposed flavor ban is neither proportional nor necessary, as it is too strong a measure for the objective it seeks to achieve and fails the EU requirement that member states choose the means that least restricts the free movement of goods.
The IEVA insists that the ban will boost black market activity and jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs while leading to a reduction in government revenues by reducing tax collection.
October 4, 2022
Comment Period on Dutch Flavor Ban Closing Soon

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The Dutch government’s public consultation period for a potential ban of flavored vaping products will close Sept. 28, reports Vaping360.
The new rule would ban all e-liquid flavors except tobacco and is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2023. However, products already on the market by Dec. 31 can be sold until July 1, 2023.
The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and the Ministry of Health have proposed a list of just 16 ingredients that would be allowed in legal tobacco-flavored e-liquids.
Dutch vaping industry advocates claim the ingredient restrictions will essentially put all e-liquid manufacturers in the Netherlands out of business.
The comment period is open to the public, and Dutch e-cigarette advocates are asking consumers from the Netherlands and elsewhere to share their thoughts on the Dutch government’s e-cigarette consultation webpage.
Previous efforts to ban flavored vapes in the Netherlands have failed.
September 26, 2022
Dutch Mull ‘Australian’ Cigarette Prices

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The Dutch government is considering increasing the price of cigarettes to between €30 ($31.96) and €47 per pack in 2040, reports the NL Times.
Inspired by the example of Australia, where a pack of cigarettes costs the equivalent of €24, Public Health Secretary Maarten van Ooijen hopes the high prices will deter people from smoking.
Currently a pack of cigarettes currently cost about €8 in the Netherlands. The government’s coalition agreement calls for an increase to €10 per pack.
Scientific research reveals that financial disincentives to smokers work only when prices are raised substantially. A recent study by Maastricht University showed, for example, that half of smokers will quit only once a pack costs €60 or more.
The proposed price hike is one step in the government’s plan to achieve a “smoke-free generation” by 2040, as set down in the National Prevention Agreement of 2018. The government wants only 5 percent of Dutch residents to smoke by 2040. Currently about 20 percent are smokers.
June 2, 2022
University Urges Big Tobacco Tax Hike

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The Dutch government will need to increase tobacco taxes substantially if it wants to meet its tobacco control objectives, reports DutchNews, citing a study by Maastricht University.

They found that cigarettes would need to cost at least €12 ($13.50) per pack to entice 10 percent of smokers to quit, and some 50 percent of smokers say they would only quit at a price of €60 per pack. Cigarettes in the Netherlands currently cost around €8.20 per pack, and this is scheduled to rise to €10 by 2023.

The researchers say this illustrates not only how addictive but also how affordable cigarettes are. “People adjust their consumption when they notice the difference in their wallet, when something becomes more or less affordable,” said UM researcher Cloe Geboers. “So big hikes in excise duty, like the €1 increase in 2020, are highly desirable when it comes to discouraging smoking.”

The government aims to reduce the number of smokers to 5 percent by 2040. Some 22 percent of the Dutch population still smoke, and 35,000 people in the Netherlands die each year from the effects of smoking, being overweight or problem drinking.
November 24, 2021
Netherlands Pressed to Restrict ENDS

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Anti-smoking groups and pharmaceutical company Pfizer are urging the next Dutch government to extend smoking bans and restrict tobacco alternatives such as e-cigarettes, reports Dutch News.
The outgoing government has increased cigarette prices and limited sales outlets as steps toward a smoke-free generation by 2040, and the number of smokers has gone down from 25 percent to 20 percent in the last five years.
However, even though there are fewer smokers, the total amount of tobacco being consumed has remained stable. “The remaining smokers are smoking more,” campaigner Wanda de Kanter told Financieele Dagblad.
De Kanter is skeptical about Philip Morris International’s attempts to market its IQOS tobacco-heating device as a less risky alternative to smoking. The multinational is trying to persuade the Dutch government to relax rules around such products. Health institute RIVM has stated that heated-tobacco still contains cancer-causing substances and can damage lung cells.

I am concerned about these reports, especially in light of the global World Health Organization’s COP9 summit, which takes place in the Netherlands in November 2021.
John Dunne, Director-General, UKVIA
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) warned that cracking down on smoking alternatives would be counterproductive.
“To further reduce smoking rates in the Netherlands, legislators should be embracing alternative tobacco products, such as vaping—not introducing stricter regulations, which will only serve to facilitate tobacco consumption,” the group wrote in a press note. “Adopting an evidence-based approach, like that which has been successful in the United Kingdom, will help cement the concept of tobacco harm reduction.”
“I am concerned about these reports, especially in light of the global World Health Organization’s COP9 summit, which takes place in the Netherlands in November 2021,” said UKVIA Director-General John Dunne.
“Smoking-related illness still kills many thousands of people each year in both the U.K. and the Netherlands. It is imperative on both governments to do all that they can to reduce this number of smoking-related deaths. They should trust the science and the overwhelming evidence and embrace vaping products and e-cigarettes. They are the most popular and effective nicotine-replacement products on the market.”
May 19, 2021