The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) must take ‘enforcement action’ against the sale of filter cigarettes. The court of Rotterdam has that on Friday decided in a case brought against the government by fifteen organizations. Because the amount of harmful substances smokers ingest is not properly measured, according to the judge it is not clear whether the cigarettes comply with the European Tobacco Directive.
Cigarette manufacturers circumvent the European rules for cigarettes by making small holes in the outside of the cigarette. In measurements it therefore appears as if there is less tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke than is the case with normal use. Filter cigarettes were therefore nicknamed ‘cheating cigarettes’. According to the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation, smokers ingest far more harmful substances than allowed.
The European Commission will have to come up with a new measuring method, the ruling says, but until then it is “not guaranteed” that the cigarettes for sale in the Netherlands remain below the maximum levels. It is not clear exactly what ‘enforcement action’ entails, but the court gives the NVWA six weeks for this. “We are still investigating what exactly the judge said,” said a spokesperson for the authority.
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