Delivery services must check age upon delivery of alcohol

Do you work in delivery services and do you deliver alcohol to people’s homes? From 2027 your business will be fined if you deliver alcohol to minors.

What changes?

The government is tightening the rules for enforcing the age limit for alcohol sales. From then on you must always verify the recipient’s age when you deliver beer, wine, or spirits. At the moment only the online shop that sells the alcohol can be fined. But the online seller and the delivery service are often not the same company. That is why there will be new rules for delivery services.

The following rules will apply to delivery services:

• You must verify the age of the recipient when you deliver alcohol to their home.
• Do you deliver alcohol to a minor? Your company will be fined.
• The same rules will apply to delivery staff as to staff in the catering industry, supermarkets, and sports canteens.

Extra measure: packaging must be marked

A physical marker on the outer packaging of parcels containing alcohol will be mandatory. This way you can immediately see that a parcel contains a product for which a minimum age applies.

For whom?

• delivery services that deliver alcohol to people’s homes
• couriers delivering alcohol
• online shops selling alcohol

When?

This change in the Alcohol Act (Alcoholwet) is expected to enter into force in 2027.

Please note: The effective date of this measure is not yet final. Entry into force is subject to its passing through the Lower and Upper Houses (Tweede en Eerste Kamer) of parliament. After publication in the Staatsblad or Staatscourant (Government Gazette, in Dutch) the law can take effect.