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Tag: Netherlands

  • Vapers Hoarding Ahead of Flavor Ban

    Vapers Hoarding Ahead of Flavor Ban

    Image: fotodiya83

    Vapers in the Netherlands have been stocking up on products ahead of a flavor ban set to take effect in 2024, reports the NL Times, citing Emil ‘t Hart of the Esigbond Trade Association.

    “You see that the consumers are hoarding as much as possible in the specialist stores,” ‘t Hart was quoted as saying. “Especially the real vapers who had switched over from cigarettes are hoarding.”

    From Jan. 1, 2024, stores will not be allowed to sell vapes or fluids with flavors like peach, mango or mint. Only products with the taste of tobacco will be permitted. The government hopes its measure will prevent youngsters from starting the nicotine habit and then migrating to combustible products.

    ‘t Hart believes the measure will be counterproductive, however. “People who have smoked regular cigarettes before turning to e-cigarettes would then be tempted to go back to traditional cigarettes,” he said.

    According to ‘t Hart many vapers have been buying their e-cigarettes online from sellers in France, Spain or China, or at physical stores in neighboring Belgium and Germany.

    A legal challenge against the flavor ban, filed by the Esigbond in April, is currently making its ways through the courts. ‘t Hart expects a ruling this summer.

  • BAT Fined for Tax Avoidance

    BAT Fined for Tax Avoidance

    Image: amazing studio

    A Netherlands court ordered BAT to pay a fine of €107 million ($117 million), reports Reuters. The court said BAT under-declared profit by €1.8 billion during the period of 2013 to 2016 and will owe taxes from that period.

    “By far the largest part of the fines were imposed for an intentionally untrue tax claim for the transfer of company activities to the United Kingdom,” the Dutch North Holland District Court said in a summary of its judgment.

    BAT called the decision “disappointing” and said it was considering appeal.

    “BAT complies with all applicable tax legislation across all of our operating markets,” BAT said.

    In April, BAT agreed to pay $635 million to U.S. authorities. A subsidiary pled guilty to charges that it conspired to violate U.S. sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea and commit bank fraud in 2013–2017.

  • Netherlands to Tax E-cigarettes

    Photo: dbvirago

    Dutch lawmakers on Oct. 26 voted for a motion to introduce a tax on vapor products, reports Dutch News. The move follows earlier reports that the Netherlands would not impose such a levy prior to the elections scheduled for November.

    The government had been planning to wait until the introduction of Europe-wide legislation but given that is unlikely to happen before 2026, ministers agreed to take unilateral measures, if that is what MPs wanted.

    One in five Dutch youngsters under the age of 25 uses e-cigarettes, and 70 percent of vapers also smoke tobacco cigarettes, according to the Trimbos addiction institute.

    The 18 age limit for using vapes is also widely flouted and internet sales have flourished, De Telegraaf reported earlier this month.

     Vaping is cheaper than smoking in the Netherlands, where a pack of cigarettes now retails for around €11 ($11.64). An e-cigarette with the equivalent of two packets of cigarettes in terms of nicotine costs around €6.

  • Netherlands: No Vapor Tax Before Elections

    Netherlands: No Vapor Tax Before Elections

    amazing studio

    The Netherlands will not impose an excise tax on vapor products before the November 2023 elections, reports DutchNews.nl, citing De Telegraaf.

    The news source added that even if the Netherlands received EU approval to impose a vapor product excise tax, the process would take several years to complete.

    Although this current government did not work toward creating a vapor product excise tax, Junior Health Minister Maarten van Ooijen said that he would encourage the next cabinet to move ahead on a “national tax on e-cigarettes.” Van Ooijen added that such a tax would be “in the interests of public health.”

    High cigarette prices have assisted smokers to move toward vapor products in recent years. However, the current cabinet focused on prohibiting flavored e-liquids and online vapor product sales to combat rising youth rates of vapor product usage.

    “We need to take action against vapes as soon as possible to protect our children, as other EU countries have done,” Van Ooijen said.

    The EU is expected to revise its Tobacco Products Directive in 2025.

  • Dutch Minister: Ban Filters to Reduce Litter

    Dutch Minister: Ban Filters to Reduce Litter

    Photo: Yakiv

    The best way to prevent cigarette filter litter is a ban, the Netherland’s junior infrastructure minister, Vivianne Heijnen, said in a briefing to Members of Parliament.

    An outright ban on filters is the most effective option to achieve the government’s target of reducing filter litter by 70 percent, according to Heijnen. The current model of discouraging smoking and littering, she says, will result in only a 15 percent reduction by 2026.

    Cigarette filters contain chemicals and microplastics, which take years to break down.  take years to break down. 

    A filter ban would have to be Europe-wide, Heijnen told Dutch News, because a uniquely Dutch ban would be in contravention of the European free trade agreement. She suggested a ban be included in the 2026 renewal of the European guideline on single-use plastics.

    More local bans on smoking at beaches and more smoke-free festivals and smoke-free zones in public spaces are also among the measures Heijnen proposed.

  • Netherlands to Ban Nicotine Pouches

    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.

  • Dutch Institute Urges Darker Cigarettes

    Dutch Institute Urges Darker Cigarettes

    Photo: zoommer

    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.

  • Netherlands Flavor Ban Effective Next Year

    Netherlands Flavor Ban Effective Next Year

    Image: and.one | Adobe Stock

    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.

  • Netherlands Wants to Restrict Cigarette Sales to Tobacconists

    Netherlands Wants to Restrict Cigarette Sales to Tobacconists

    Photo: jordi2r

    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.

  • Activists Demand Removal of Cigarettes From Dutch Stores

    Activists Demand Removal of Cigarettes From Dutch Stores

    Photo: methaphum

    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.”