Postfilter, the YES sticker and "to the residents of": what may you still send?
Mail addressed to a named person is allowed, provided you consult Postfilter and the deceased register before dispatch. Mail without a name — "to the residents of" with an address — counts as unaddressed advertising in a growing number of Dutch municipalities, and there a YES sticker is required; enforcement is aimed at the sender.
Last updated: 11 August 2026 · Mark Bonenkamp, managing director of Vogelaar and chair of Stichting Postfilter and of the Postal Committee of the KVGO
What is Postfilter?
A national register in which someone can record that they do not want to receive unsolicited addressed advertising mail. Anyone who does not want unsolicited advertising mail registers at postfilter.nl. So it is an opt-out system: anyone who does not register can keep receiving mail.
If you work with addressed mail yourself, bedrijven.postfilter.nl is the counter: that is where you sign up and consult the register.
Two things are often muddled here.
It applies only to non-customers. If someone is in Postfilter, you may not send them unsolicited advertising mail. If you have an existing customer relationship, a Postfilter registration does not apply. That customer can object to mail with you directly, and then you stop sending to them.
It also applies to "to the residents of" with an address. That is stated in the explanatory notes to the Code, and Postfilter's own flow chart says it literally.
The rules are in the Code for the use of Postfilter, part of the Dutch Advertising Code. That code has been in force since 1 January 2011 and was last amended on 1 May 2025.
What must you do before sending a mailing?
Four obligations from the Code:
| What | For what |
|---|---|
| Consult Postfilter | For non-customers, before dispatch, through bedrijven.postfilter.nl |
| Consult the national deceased register | For all files, so including existing customers |
| Send within six weeks | The Code sets a window of at most six weeks between screening and dispatch |
| State Postfilter on the item | So the recipient knows where to opt out |
With us this is part of preparing a mailing as standard. So you do not have to remember it yourself, but it is worth knowing that it happens, and why.
Why "to the residents of" is the point of dispute
Mail with an address but without a name falls between two stools.
Under the Dutch Postal Act it is addressed mail. But a number of municipalities treat it through their waste by-law as unaddressed advertising print. And then it may only be delivered where there is a YES sticker on the letterbox.
Rotterdam is the municipality where this has come to a head. The city's own website puts it plainly: "Only mail with all of your details is called addressed mail."
What the Court of Appeal decided in July 2025
On 8 July 2025 The Hague Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of Rotterdam District Court. Rotterdam may treat mail addressed "to the residents of [address]" as unaddressed advertising print. According to the court that conflicts neither with the Postal Act, nor with the European Postal Directive, nor with Article 10 ECHR.
One part of that ruling matters most to a sender, and it is rarely mentioned. The provision was declared non-binding as against PostNL as the deliverer. Enforcement is therefore aimed at the sender. The municipality of Rotterdam says as much itself: enforcement is aimed solely and exclusively at senders.
In other words: if you have mail "to the residents of" delivered in a municipality with a YES sticker, that is your risk. Not the carrier's, and not your mailing partner's.
That is why we advise sending to a named person as standard. Not because the rules require it everywhere, but because it is the only route on which you are not dependent on the by-law of a municipality you may not even know you are mailing into.
Where things stand now
Three things are running at once. It helps not to confuse them.
The appeal to the Supreme Court is pending. Stichting Postfilter, Kiesjefolders and PostNL have brought the case before the Supreme Court. When judgment will come is not known.
A national YES sticker is an exploration, not a decision. Rijkswaterstaat commissioned research into whether a national opt-in system is possible. On 3 September 2025 the state secretary wrote to the House of Representatives that it could be done through an Order in Council, that it would have to be notified to the European Commission, and that the decision "is expected to be made by a subsequent government". So there is no proposal on the table.
The line underneath it has stood since 2021. On 24 September 2021 the Supreme Court held that municipalities may introduce an opt-in system for unaddressed advertising print. The 2025 Hague ruling builds on that judgment.
What does this mean for your mailing?
Send to a named person where you can. Then your mail counts as addressed mail and the YES sticker plays no part.
Consult Postfilter and the deceased register. Postfilter for non-customers, the deceased register for everything.
Know which municipalities you are delivering into if you use "to the residents of". Rotterdam is the clearest, but not the only one. There is no public, up-to-date overview of all opt-in municipalities. The most recent figure that is public comes from the DDMA: as at 1 March 2024, 62 of the 342 municipalities applied the YES sticker. Municipalities have been added since, so assume that is a lower bound.
Put Postfilter on the item. That is mandatory, and it saves you complaints.
Questions about your own mailing?
We are happy to think through the set-up of your mailing with you: which file, which addressing, and which route delivers most without running into a municipal by-law.
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Sources
- The Hague Court of Appeal, 8 July 2025, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2025:1273 (Stichting Postfilter, Kiesjefolders and PostNL v the municipality of Rotterdam)
- Rotterdam District Court, 8 November 2023, ECLI:NL:RBROT:2023:10469
- Supreme Court, 24 September 2021, ECLI:NL:HR:2021:1360 (KVGO and MailDB v the municipality of Amsterdam)
- Council of State, 27 December 2023, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:4831
- Code for the use of Postfilter, Dutch Advertising Code, reclamecode.nl
- Circular economy omnibus letter, 3 September 2025, parliamentary paper 32852 no. 376, rijksoverheid.nl
- Municipality of Rotterdam, rotterdam.nl/ja-ja
- DDMA, 27 February 2024, on the number of municipalities with a YES sticker
- Stichting Postfilter, postfilter.nl
This page is an explanation by Vogelaar. For the position of Stichting Postfilter: postfilter.nl. All sources are in Dutch.
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