Unrecorded Alcohol Consumption in the Netherlands: Legal, Semi-Legal and Illegal Production and Trade in Alcoholic Beverages

Abstract

Three sources of unrecorded alcohol consumption in the Netherlands are discussed. The first source, illegal alcohol production, pertains only to illicit distilling, which never accounted for more than 1% of the total spirits production and is currently almost non-existent. Of more importance could be the standard 1.5% of total production of distilled alcohol that goes untaxed, officially booked as production loss. Unknown is how realistic this projected loss is, and how much of this quantity is sold for domestic, yet untaxed and hence unrecorded, consumption. The second source, legitimate home production of beer and wine, is estimated not to amount to more than 1% of total beer and wine consumption. Since the establishment of a single European market in 1992, importing and exporting ofalcoholic beverages for personal use is free. No exact data on the quantity of cross-border traffic are available. but it is believed not to be substantial. Duty-free import is also limited. Due to large differences in excise duties between the EU countries, illegal trade is a potential lucrative criminal business. There is, however, no systematic control of alcohol transported between the Netherlands and other member states, so no estimate ofthis can be given. All sources of unrecorded consumption summed up, it is concluded that the quantity ofnon-registered alcohol consumption in the Netherlands is relatively small; the validity ofsales figures, as a base for per capita consumption estimates, is thus relatively high.