Some 18,000 kilograms of illegal, wrongly labeled fireworks seized from Dutch importer

This week, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) seized around 18,000 kilograms of fireworks from a Dutch fireworks importer. It concerned fireworks that have been banned in the Netherlands or professional F3 category fireworks that had been relabeled or had their labels removed, the inspectorate said.

The ILT asked a specialist company to move the fireworks that don’t comply with Dutch laws and regulations to a safe site for investigation. “Because this concerns a very large batch of fireworks, the investigation is still ongoing,” the ILT said. The inspectorate filed an official report with the Public Prosecution Service and also informed the local regulator.

In the importer’s bunkers, the ILT found multiple boxes of fireworks that have been banned in the Netherlands since 1 December 2020. These included rocket fireworks, single shots, Roman candles, and firecrackers.

The ILT also found boxes of F3 category firecracker strings that were provided with an F2 category label. F3 category fireworks may not be stored on Dutch territory. There were also boxes of fireworks where the transport classification had been adjusted.

“Fireworks can involve risks in use, transport, and storage. It must, therefore, be provided with the correct, legally required labels,” the ILT said. “The CE marking stands for the safety and quality of the product and must be the logical consequence of a correctly completed conformity assessment procedure.”

These fireworks came from France, so the ILT is working with the French authorities to further investigate. Earlier this week, the ILT reported that it seized 1,700 kilograms of fireworks from a Noord-Brabant sales point with similar issues. Those fireworks came from Belgium.