Fireworks policy in the Netherlands

[4][5] At New Year's Eve, ordinary Dutch citizens are allowed to light fireworks from 6 pm on 31 December to 2 am on 1 January.

Fireworks need to comply to certain legal standards, and may only be sold during the last three days of the year, excluding any Sundays,[6] at a shop that has a licence.

In 2000, there were 26 fireworks companies active in the Netherlands, with branches in Leeuwarden, Appingedam, Lichtenvoorde, Tilburg, The Hague, Enschede, Leiden, Lijnden, Dronten, Lelystad and Landgraaf.

[11] Fireworks in the Netherlands are known to cause various negative effects to users, bystanders and people living nearby, especially around New Year's Eve, when extra police, firefighters and paramedics are deployed to control the situation.

The negative effects of fireworks can be divided into: The original Vuurwerkbesluit was adopted in 1993, and was primarily concerned with environmental issues.

Since then, the Vuurwerkbesluit has been amended a number of additional times, including the 2014 limitation of the period during which fireworks may be lit during New Year's Eve from 10 am to 6 pm on 31 December.

[citation needed] So-called "consumer fireworks" (consumentenvuurwerk or particulier vuurwerk) in the Netherlands consists of category F1 (on sale and usable throughout the year by every person aged 12 and older without a special licence or training),[19] and category F2 and F3 (on sale the last three days of the year, Sundays excepted, which are to be lit from 6 pm on 31 December until 2 am on 1 January).

[22] For New Year's Eve 2020-21, the government prohibited fireworks, citing that the number of injuries would place too much stress on the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.