Aim for a tobacco free Louth by 2025
LOUTH TD WELCOMES NEW PLAIN TOBACCO PACAKAGING LAWS
LOUTH TD Fergus O’Dowd confirmed that ‘standardised packaging’ of tobacco will come into force in Louth in September, as part of efforts to make the county tobacco free by 2025.
Deputy O’Dowd described it as a ‘positive step forward’ that the standardised packaging of tobacco was signed into law last week.
‘ The aim of standardised packaging is to make all tobacco packs look less attractive to consumers here in Louth and across the country, to make health warnings more prominent and to prevent packaging from misleading consumers about the harmful effects of tobacco.’
He added: ‘ The signing of this order means that all tobacco products manufactured for sale here in Louth and across Ireland from 30th September 2017 must be in standardised retail packaging.’
With such a significant move being made in the tobacco industry, there will be a ‘wash through’ period allowed, meaning any products manufactured and placed on the market before the September date will be permitted to stay on the market for a 12 month period (i.e. until 30th September, 2018).
Essentially, standardised packaging means that: all forms of branding – trademarks, logos, colours and graphics – will be removed from tobacco packs, and that the brand and variant names would be presented in a uniform typeface for all brands, along with the packs being changed to a standardised one plain neutral colour.
Welcoming the move, Deputy O’Dowd said: ‘Smoking is a significant cause of ill-health here in Louth and across the country. Almost 6,000 people die from tobacco related disease and tobacco use in Ireland every year.
It has been estimated to cost Irish society a total of €10.7 billion annually in healthcare, productivity and other costs.
He added: ‘We are committed to changing that and standardised packaging of tobacco products is one such evidence-based measure that will assist in achieving our overarching goal of having Louth and the whole of Ireland tobacco free by 2025.’
Ireland now joins Australia, the United Kingdom and France in having such legislation enter into force.
The development of legislation for the introduction of standardised packaging for tobacco products was one of the key actions identified in the 2013 Tobacco Free Ireland policy document. Tobacco Free Ireland sets a target for Ireland to be tobacco free by 2025. In practice, this will mean a smoking prevalence rate of less than 5%. The current daily smoking rate for those aged 15 and over is 19%. The two key themes underpinning the policy are protecting children and the denormalisation of smoking. The policy addresses a range of tobacco control issues and initiatives and contains over 60 recommendations, including standardised packaging of tobacco products.