Tobacco to be hidden from plain sight in Netherlands shops

The Dutch government is working on a legislative proposal to ban the visible display of tobacco products, State Secretary Martin van Rijn of Public Health informed parliament, ANP reports.

Van Rijn gave the involved industry associations until December 15th to come up with an alternative, but their plans were inadequate. According to Van Rijn, the organizations did not go far enough with their plans. 

For example, the NSO, the organization for tobacconists and convenience stores, proposed to ban facade advertising from 2020. And the representatives of service stations said they will come up with plans for a partial display ban in mid 2019. 

Because the organizations' proposals do not meet Parliament's demand for a display ban, the government will now come with a legislative proposal to do so, Van Rijn said, according to the news wire.