DUTCH GOVERNMENT EYES PLAIN PACKAGING FOR CIGARS & E-CIGARETTES

[El Presidente]

https://halfwheel.com/dutch-government-eyes-plain-packaging-for-cigars-e-cigarettes/439509/

[Jimmy2]

Ridiculous! All about control! And to pat themselves on there back for a job well done! Which is a waste of time, when Gov should actually do something that really matters for their people. 

Vote them all out ! Out of touch with the common people. One big Joke.

[Arabian]

We want labels.

[MagicalBikeRide]

Have said this before, but plain packaging has two key drawbacks and I didn’t think about until it happened here:

1. Storage is a ballache - as we’re not allowed even look at the box code, nevermind take the box home.
2. There’s basically one local retailer that I will buy from and trust enough to purchase from without ever seeing a band or box. Not everybody will have a retailer like this and a relationship with them like I have - so surely they can’t buy CC’s in this way. 

[ha_banos]

10 hours ago, MagicalBikeRide said:

Have said this before, but plain packaging has two key drawbacks and I didn’t think about until it happened here:

Storage is a ballache - as we’re not allowed even look at the box code, nevermind take the box home.
There’s basically one local retailer that I will buy from and trust enough to purchase from without ever seeing a band or box. Not everybody will have a retailer like this and a relationship with them like I have - so surely they can’t buy CC’s in this way.

This is an interesting point. They are removing certain manufacturer information this way.  Box codes, serial numbers. I wonder if there's a way to question authenticity such that they have to maintain this. At least...

[NeoGeo]

3 minutes ago, ha_banos said:

This is an interesting point. They are removing certain manufacturer information this way.  Box codes, serial numbers. I wonder if there's a way to question authenticity such that they have to maintain this. At least...

Or would it be more similar to Canada where the original bands are underneath and they still have the boxes for date/factory referencing? I believe this is how they do it there (Canada).

[Li Bai]

One could probably make these bands on any printer at home, I'd never thought about that 🤔

[MagicalBikeRide]

9 hours ago, NeoGeo said:

Or would it be more similar to Canada where the original bands are underneath and they still have the boxes for date/factory referencing? I believe this is how they do it there (Canada).

Even if the bands are underneath, you’re not walking into a new retailer and asking them to check below the plain bands - just an awkward experience. 

And regarding the original boxes, the challenge isn’t what a retailer should do but more what they are free to do. Zero chance I’m buying CC’s from a dealer that has sticks packaged as singles in a walk in - but they tell me the box code is GES ENE 21. I just couldn’t believe them. 

[ha_banos]

Ha you're never going to get a sealed box in the UK. Just trust us 😁

[SCgarman]

Oh the irony. Hasn't Holland been Cannabis friendly for decades with their "coffee shops" where you can get your caffeine and THC "buzz" on? I believe they were also friendly to other types of mind altering stuff besides Cannabis. Now cigars are the "evil weed"? Hypocritical to the core, IMO

[ha_banos]

2 hours ago, SCgarman said:

Oh the irony. Hasn't Holland been Cannabis friendly for decades with their "coffee shops" where you can get your caffeine and THC "buzz" on? I believe they were also friendly to other types of mind altering stuff besides Cannabis. Now cigars are the "evil weed"? Hypocritical to the core, IMO

Weed shop vs. cigar shop...

[Li Bai]

13 hours ago, ha_banos said:

Weed shop vs. cigar shop...

It really is a disgrace. That plain packaging thing is ruining a more than 500 years old tradition, plain and simple.

[vvvendo1969]

(1) This is absolutely crazy decision. No liberty, no rights, no love for cigars.

(2) I am afraid that making fakes becomes very easy.

(3) Anyway, plain packaging is ugly. I need beauty because I am not a robot.

[BrightonCorgi]

Tobacco is the scapegoat for lazy politics. Is there any chance this won't be approved by NL Parliament?

[Chitmo]

Don’t get me started on this again. Plain packaging and taxes have destroyed the hobby in Canada. Nobody can afford to buy a house or a cigar in Canada at the moment. It's stupid!

[JohnS]

Another article on the subject from Cigar Journal...

NETHERLANDS – CONFIRMED UPCOMING LEGISLATION ON PLAIN PACKAGING

June 11, 2024 - Press Release

Following a meeting of the Council of Minister, the Dutch Government announced on 7 June 2024 that the upcoming proposal to introduce plain packaging for e-cigarettes will also include the introduction of neutral packaging for cigars citing US market developments as a justification. 

“Cigars constitute special tobacco products with unique production characteristics and patterns of consumption – characteristics shared with other traditional tobacco products which have been explicitly excluded from the scope of the proposed legislation. 

The reference of US studies to justify a measure applicable on the Dutch market is intrinsically wrong. Not only the latest US figures reveal that cigar consumption among US middle and high school students has decreased in the last few years, but it also omits the fact that the US health authority (FDA) has been recently found of having acted arbitrarily and capriciously by not addressing the very same data before it. 

As niche and occasionally consumed products, cigars play no part in smoking initiation of young Dutch people with also less and less adults connoisseurs consuming them. While excluded from the scope of plain packaging, no increase of consumption has been observed in the Netherlands or in other countries with cigars continuing their downward declining trend. For these reasons, ECMA will continue to vigorously make the case that the introduction of plain packaging for cigars in parallel with e-cigarettes is greatly inappropriate and unjustified. 

The extreme interpretation of Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control practiced in the Netherlands – not allowing any reasonable and evidence-based dialogue with the tobacco industry – leads exactly to these types of ill-informed regulation”, ECMA Director General, Paul Varakas stated. 

Facts on EU cigars/cigarillos 

• Cigars/cigarillos continue to decrease on EU market; only representing 1.6% of the total EU tobacco market
• Cigars/cigarillos are not products associated with starting smoking. Eurobarometer 2020 found that all respondents in the Netherlands who have tried tobacco products, the most common first experience of tobacco is by far cigarettes followed by hand- rolled cigarettes
• Eurobarometer 2020 also found that “only 1% of smokers smoke cigarillos, cigars or pipes on a daily basis; these tobacco products are more likely to be smoked on an occasional basis or tried only once or twice.” The report concludes that “other tobacco products like cigars, cigarillos and pipes are consumed regularly only by a minority.”
• Dutch cigar/cigarillo smokers have a specific and well-documented consumer profile and are mainly consumed by older consumers and small groups of the population

Source: https://www.cigarjournal.com/netherlands-confirmed-upcoming-legislation-on-plain-packaging/