Traditionally, many residents of Drenthe buy fireworks in Germany during these last days of the year. It is clear that there are strict rules attached to this: For example, you are not allowed to take more than 25 kilos of fireworks with you in your car, and the fireworks must also comply with Dutch laws and regulations.
In practice, this means that many of the fireworks that are sold in supermarkets in Germany are actually not allowed to be brought to the Netherlands at all.
You are allowed to take a maximum of 25 kilos of fireworks in a car. This is per car, and not per person. And please note, not only the weight of the powder counts, but the packaging is also weighed during an inspection.
Why 25 kilos? This is also the amount that a private individual is allowed to have at home. Logically, you cannot take more with you than you are allowed to have at home.
The difficulty is that the weight is not indicated on many packages. And unless you take a scale with you to the store, you have to guess whether you stay under 25 kilos. And while some large fireworks pots weigh more than that each. So you still need to pay attention.
What may be even more difficult is what exactly you can take with you. In the Netherlands you are not allowed to own fireworks from the F3 category, let alone set them off. The category listing is on the fireworks packaging.
Fireworks from categories F1 and F2 are allowed. But please note, this category also includes a number of types of fireworks that have been prohibited to possess in the Netherlands since 2020:
Because the fireworks from the above list belong to category F2, they are included in the packages sold in Germany. What if you were caught at the border with a nice fireworks package, but it accidentally included a box of baby darts or firecrackers? Then you can hand everything in and pay a fine.
Do you buy your fireworks in Germany and do you adhere to all the above rules? You have not loaded more than 25 kilos in your car, you have paid close attention to which category it is, and you have left all the firecrackers and flares behind? You can still be the fool.
There have been cases where the fireworks packaging had to be removed during inspection, after which it turned out that no Dutch manual was present. And guess what? That is also prohibited.
What do you think, are the above rules for taking German fireworks to Drenthe too strict?