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TOBACCO FREE ADVENT CALENDAR 2022

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ENSP: Could you please give us more details about your institution and its field of activity?

Daniëlle Arnolds: Health Funds for a Smokefree Netherlands is an alliance between the Dutch Cancer Society, the Dutch Heart Foundation and the Dutch Lung Foundation. The alliance focuses completely on tobacco control and has three main pillars: campaigns and communication, government policy, and smokefree environments & organisations.

ENSP: Could you please explain the context of these new measures, the stakeholders involved, and the implications on the health system and society?

DA: In 2018 the previous government in the Netherlands concluded the so-called ‘National Prevention Agreement’, together with many societal parties, including Health Funds for a Smokefree Netherlands. The agreement contained the goal to reach a Smokefree Generation in 2040 and a package of tobacco control measures and societal actions, as a first step towards reaching this goal. Government measures that were included in the agreement were for instance a tax increase, plain packaging for cigarettes and RYO tobacco and a plan for reduction of the number of tobacco points of sale. In previous years, the government has implemented the measures that were included in the National Prevention Agreement.

As a next step and a follow-up to the National Prevention Agreement, the current government now presented a new package of government measures, consisting of:

• Research into scenario’s for further tobacco tax increases from 2025 onwards (for 2023 and 2024 tax increases of about €1,20 per pack of cigarettes are already foreseen);
• Research into the effects of increasing the minimum age for tobacco sales from 18 to 21 years and discussions with neighbouring countries about the possibility of banning the sale of tobacco for the next generation;
• Limiting tobacco sales to convenience stores & tobacconist shops in 2030 and to only tobacconist shops in 2032;
• Introduction of a registration system for tobacco points of sale in 2024;
• Limiting the sale of e-cigarettes and e-liquids to specialist shops in 2025;
• Plain packaging for e-cigarettes and cigars/cigarillos (following the introduction of PP for cigarettes and RYO tobacco in 2020);
• A ban on all oral nicotine products without tobacco (e.g. nicotine pouches and nicotine-containing candy) and regulation of all other nicotine products without tobacco (so they are covered by the advertising ban, minimum sales age, etc);
• Extension of the smoking ban to environments where children regularly go, e.g. sports clubs and playgrounds;
• A ban on additives in tobacco products and e-cigarettes that are toxic or increase the addictiveness of products;
• A ban on tobacco accessories that can be used to create flavours (flavour accessories) and regulation of all other tobacco accessories (so they are covered by the advertising ban, minimum sales age, etc);
• Various efforts to stimulate smokers to quit, e.g. the creation of a taskforce ‘Quit Smoking’ and more financial support for the existing taskforce that works on smoke free pregnancy;
• Evaluation of the current government mass media campaign focused on quitting smoking and possibly the development of new flights/campaigns;
• Intensifying sanctions and increasing fines linked to violations of tobacco control measures.

The societal parties that were involved in the conclusion of the Prevention Agreement advised the government about the measures that needed to be included. We as Health Funds for a Smokefree Netherlands have had a leading role in this process, together with a couple of other organisations and stakeholders.

ENSP: Could you please elaborate on the next steps?

DA: On 14 December, the Parliament debated the government’s plan with new tobacco control measures. Most Parliament members stated they support the measures, but believe that more governmental action is necessary to reach the goal of a Smokefree Generation. Several Parliament members for instance stated that in addition to plain packaging for e-cigarettes, it is important to also include requirements as to the appearance of e-cigarettes themselves, so they can’t have bright colours and attractive shapes anymore. Other Parliament members advocated for a ban on tobacco sales to anyone born after a certain year, a smoking ban on outdoor terraces, further tax increases, a licensing system for tobacco sales, and accelerating the reduction of the number of tobacco points of sale. These pleas are fully in line with how we as Health Funds for a Smokefree Netherlands have reacted to the government’s plans.

The next step is that Parliament members can file motions in January, on what they believe is missing in the government’s tobacco control plan. If these motions are adopted, the government has to take them into account.

Another next step is of course the implementation of all the announced measures. As Health Funds for a Smokefree Netherlands we will advocate for a swift implementation.

ENSP: How do you envision a knowledge transfer towards other countries?

DA: Tobacco control conferences in 2023, for instance, the annual ENSP conference, provide a great platform on which we would like to present the developments in the Netherlands and our role in those developments. Next to this, from time to time we have bilateral or multilateral exchanges of information with colleagues from other countries that are in the ENSP network. These meetings always provide many useful insights.