Dutch Parliament Urges Cabinet to Quickly Impose Excise Tax on Vapes

 According to Dutch media outlet RTL Nieuws on the evening of October 26, the Dutch House of Representatives has asked the outgoing cabinet to draft legislation regulating an e-cigarette excise tax before next summer break.

Breaking news: According to Dutch media outlet RTL Nieuws on the evening of October 26, the Dutch House of Representatives has asked the outgoing cabinet to draft legislation regulating an e-cigarette excise tax before next summer break. 

The government said it supports imposing such an excise tax because the European plan will take a long time to implement. However, the cabinet believes that, given its outgoing status, a specific request from the House of Representatives is necessary. 

A majority of lawmakers in the House believe that the Netherlands should have moved ahead with this kind of excise tax long before any related European plan is introduced. A motion by Democrats 66 will not be put to a vote until later tonight, but the signatories backing the call already make up a majority. 

During last week's questioning session, outgoing State Secretary for Public Health Maarten van Ooijen said that he could set aside the "humility and restraint of an outgoing government" only if the House of Representatives explicitly asked him to impose such a tax. 

Even if the cabinet now has the opportunity to begin the process of levying this type of excise tax, it will still take considerable time, with implementation unlikely before 2025.