How Far is the Netherland from Smoke-free, Delaying Taxation of E-cigarettes?

The Dutch government has said it has no plans to introduce a tax on e-cigarettes or vaping fluids, leaving the issue to the new government after the November elections. The Netherlands is awaiting approval from the European Union to start taxing e-cigarettes. As a major port in Europe and one of the top ten countries in China's e-cigarette exports, the Netherlands' e-cigarette tax issue has attracted much attention.

According to Chinese customs data, in August, China exported a total of 39.85 million US dollars of electronic cigarettes to the Netherlands, an increase of 32.76% month-on-month and 34.58% year-on-year; The export volume was 976,125 kg, an increase of 30.08%, an increase of 162.12%, and the export volume ranked among the top ten exporters in China.

The two authorities learned through the website of the Ministry of Commerce of China that, in principle, imported goods can be exempted from customs duty, value-added tax and consumption tax during the temporary storage in the bonded warehouse of the Netherlands Customs; Imported goods transported under Dutch customs supervision are exempt from customs duties and VAT until they reach the final place of consumption, which can save cash flow for importers. The Netherlands is one of the transit points for China's e-cigarette exports to Europe.

In addition, according to the EU official website, at present, e-cigarettes and related products exported from China to the Netherlands receive tariffs ranging from 3.7% to 6.5%.

The regulation of traditional cigarettes in the Netherlands is very strict, and the government is gradually tightening the freedom of smokers to buy cigarettes and smoke: Since 2020, the Netherlands has no longer allowed supermarkets, convenience stores and other business places to display tobacco products, and plans to ban the sale of tobacco products in supermarkets from 2024, tobacco products will be driven out of the small supermarket in the gas station from 2030, and smokers can only buy cigarettes in tobacco stores from 2032. The government hopes that by 2040, the new generation in the Netherlands will become a truly smoke-free generation.

For e-cigarettes, the Netherlands will also have more and more restrictions: in addition to banning online purchases of e-cigarettes from this year, starting in 2024, supermarkets and restaurants will also be banned from selling e-cigarettes. In order to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to young people, the Netherlands is no longer allowed to introduce new flavors of e-cigarettes to the market, and it is not even allowed to add sweetness to the flavor.

In the ninth WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, countries are rated on their progress in tobacco control, noting that after Brazil and Turkey, Mauritius and the Netherlands have achieved best practice levels in the implementation of all MPOWER packages of tobacco control measures. Taxing e-cigarettes is considered by health officials in the Netherlands as an important measure to protect the next generation and safeguard public health interests.

Some people in the industry said to the two supremacists that the restrictions on cigarettes in the Netherlands are so strict that some smokers turn to alternatives - electronic cigarettes, if the future imposes heavy taxes on electronic cigarettes, and the demand of Dutch nationals for nuns can not disappear, which will inevitably lead to the prevalence of the black market in the Netherlands, the Netherlands' "smoke-free generation" plan may come to naught.