Ireland joins tobacco plain packaging leaders

Ireland has announced that the government has received approval to begin the process of introducing plain packaging of tobacco products. This puts Ireland on track to possibly being the first country in the WHO European Region to introduce plain packaging.

 The theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is introducing strong bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Tobacco package remains one of the last powerful advertising tools. Plain packaging is a very effective tool to reduce the attractiveness of tobacco and is recommended in the Guidelines of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), and can be particularly effective in keeping young people from starting to smoke.

In August 2012, Australia’s plain packaging laws won against global tobacco firms in a court challenge that has been closely watched and is now having a worldwide impact. Since then, the New Zealand Government has announced it will introduce tobacco plain packaging before the end of 2013. In the WHO European Region, Ireland has taken a very important step, and interest from other countries, as well as the European Commission, has been expressed.