State Secretary submits a legislative proposal to amend the Alcohol Act

19 January 2026

State Secretary Judith Tielen of Youth, Prevention and Sport submitted to Parliament a bill that amendments the Alcohol Act.

The main proposals are:

• Bingo and other games of chance will be allowed in hospitality venues. The current Alcohol Act does not permit gambling because the legislator previously considered the combination of serving alcohol and gambling undesirable.

• The law will explicitly state that the age of online purchasers of alcoholic beverages must be verified upon delivery (unless they are clearly older). This amendment allows enforcement authorities to fine delivery services, not just the seller, if they fail to perform age verification upon delivery of alcoholic beverages.

• The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) will be authorized to enforce this obligation.

• The NVWA will also be authorized to impose an administrative fine for violations of the ban on online sales of spirits without a permit.

Tielen has also announced a second phase of this bill. In this second phase, the possibility of extending the Alcohol Act's rules to online sellers based abroad and targeting Dutch consumers will be explored. A proposal for elaborating requirements for the age verification system will also be submitted during the second phase. This will take into account European developments in the field of online age verification and digital identity.

Source: tweedekamer.nl.

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