Country Overview
Key Facts
Number of Employees: Over 1,400 (FTE)
Main Brands:
Marlboro, L&M, Chesterfield
Welcome to Philip Morris Holland B.V. (PMH). Our company was established in 1969 and started its production activities in a small factory in the city of Eindhoven. As our business grew, we acquired a new facility in Bergen op Zoom to meet increased production demands.
Today, the Bergen op Zoom factory is one of the most modern cigarette factories in the world, and the largest factory in terms of production capacity for Philip Morris International. The majority of cigarettes here are made for export to European and Japanese markets. PMH is the largest industrial employer in the region, employing some 1,400 employees (FTE).
In addition to our factory operations, Philip Morris Holland B.V. is responsible for the sale of tobacco products on the Dutch market, including Marlboro, the Netherland’s number one brand, L&M, and Chesterfield.
Smoking and Health
Tobacco products, including cigarettes, are dangerous and addictive. There is overwhelming medical and scientific evidence that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other serious diseases.
Addiction
All tobacco products are addictive. It can be very difficult to quit smoking, but this should not deter smokers who want to quit from trying to do so.
Secondhand Smoke
Public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes serious diseases in non-smokers, including lung cancer and heart disease. We believe the public health conclusions on secondhand smoke are sufficient to support smoking restrictions in public places.
Effective Regulation
Philip Morris International (PMI) supports comprehensive regulation of tobacco products based on the principle of harm reduction.
To be effective, tobacco regulatory policy must be evidence-based, apply to all tobacco products, and should take into account the views of all legitimate stakeholders including public health authorities, government finance authorities, tobacco manufacturers, and other members of the tobacco supply chain. Regulatory policy must consider the potential to trigger adverse consequences which undermine public health objectives, such as increasing the demand for illicit cigarettes.
While we support comprehensive, effective tobacco regulation, we do not support regulation that prevents adults from buying and using tobacco products or that imposes unnecessary impediments to the operation of the legitimate tobacco market. In that regard, we oppose measures such as generic packaging, point of sale display bans, total bans on communications to adult consumers, and bans on the use of all ingredients in tobacco products.