G/TBT/N/IRL/1  
 
17 June 2014  
(14-3499)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member: IRELAND  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):    
2. Agency responsible: Tobacco & Alcohol Control Unit, Department of Health 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :  
Tobacco & Alcohol Control Unit,  
Department of Health,  
Hawkins House,  Hawkins Street,  Dublin 2,  
Ireland 
Telephone: 00 353 1 635 4000 Fax:  00 353 1 635 4552 
Email:  tobacco@health.gov.ie  
Website:  http://www.dohc.ie  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applic able, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): The Bill relates to retail 
packaging of all tobacco products, the appearance of cigarettes, and the presentation of tobacco products. TOBACCO AND MANUFACT URED TOBACCO SUBSTITUTES (HS 24); 
Tobacco, tobacco products and related equipment (ICS 65.160).  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Public Health 
(Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014 (24 pages, in English). 
6. Description of content: The Bill relates to retail packaging of all tobacco products, the 
appearance of cigarettes and the presentation  of tobacco products. Upon enactment, the 
Bill will give effect in part to Directive No. 2014/40/EU of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 3 April 2014 on the approx imation of the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation 
and sale of tobacco and related products and repealing Directive 2001/37/EC. 
Retail Packaging of all tobacco products must be of a prescribed colour (outer and inner 
surfaces), not have decorative ridges or embe llishments, any adhesive used must be none 
coloured, not bear a mark or a trade mark, other than health warnings or barcode.  Brand 
and variant names may appear but only as prescribed.  The pack cannot contain any 
inserted or affixed items other than those required by law. Any wrapper must be transparent, uncoloured with no decorative ridges etc., not bear mark or trade mark other 
than a tear-strip as prescribed and not have anything affixed to it. 
Cigarettes must be covered in white paper, have  a white filter tip with a covering that can 
be white or imitation cork.  Brand and variant name may appear on cigarettes but only as 
prescribed.  Where there is a lining it shall be of such a prescribed colour and material.  G/TBT/N/IRL/1 
 
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  The Retail packaging of all tobacco products cannot contain any audio effects or scents or 
any feature designed to alter the packaging after sale by retail.  The Bill sets out offences 
and penalties in relation to the packaging, manufacture, import or sale of tobacco products 
contained in non-compliant retail packaging and for the manufacture, import and sale of 
non-compliant cigarettes.  The Bill provides for the removal from the register for the sale of tobacco products in the event that an offence is committed under the Bill.  Finally, the 
Bill provides for the powers of authorised  officers to enforce the legislation.   
Secondary legislation for details contained within  the scope of the Bill will be drafted. For 
example, the colour, font type, font size, position and appearance of where the brand and 
variant name can be printed on tobacco products will be set out in regulations.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: 
Protection of Human health or Safety; Prevention of deceptive practices and consumer 
protection.  
Ireland's public health policy objective in relation to tobacco control is to promote and 
subsequently move towards a tobacco free society. The cumulative effect of the tobacco 
control legislation and public health policies to date has been a decrease in the number of 
people smoking. In 2013, the National Tobacco Control Office reported that 21.5% of Irish 
adults smoked (22.9% men and 20.2% women). This represents a decline of 2.2% since 
2010, and a decline of 7.5% since 2007 when the last comprehensive large scale study on 
smoking prevalence in Ireland was undertaken (SLAN study).  
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable de ath in Ireland. Each year at least 5,200 
people die from diseases caused by tobacco use, equating to almost one in five of all 
deaths.  
Apart from the human costs due to the tragic deaths and illness attributable to smoking 
there is a real economic cost. A very conservative estimate of this for 2009 is in the region 
of €664 million. This is composed of €498 mill ion in health expenditure, €15 million in 
productivity losses due to absenteeism and €151 million in productivity losses due to long term incapacity. The figure of €498 millio n in 2009 represents 3.52% of health care 
spending in that year and 0.31 % of GDP. 
To date Ireland has been to the forefront of  tobacco control legislation in Europe. The 
Public Health (Tobacco) Acts 2002 and 2004 aim to protect people from the dangers of tobacco consumption and from second hand smok e. Under existing legislation, there is a 
ban in place on smoking in the workplace, a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship, 
and a ban on the display of tobacco products in shops. Regulations concerning health warnings on tobacco products came into force on the 1st February 2013; from that date all 
tobacco products placed on the market must display combined text and graphic warnings. 
Regulations controlling sales promotions of tobacco products came into force on 23rd December 2013, the effect of which is to proh ibit certain types of promotion where tobacco 
products are offered at a reduced price, or free of charge for a limited period of time, or on 
the purchase of another tobacco product or other products. These measures, as well as others, have succeeded in reducing the prev alence of smoking in Ireland from 33% in 
1998 to 21.5% in 2013. A further piece of legislation which will prohibit the smoking of 
tobacco products in vehicles where children ar e present is currently going through the Irish 
parliament and should be enacted before the end of the year. 
In order to make further impacts on the smok ing prevalence in Ireland, particularly on 
smoking initiation among young people, additional initiatives are required in order to build 
on the positive effects experienced so far deriving from Ireland’s tobacco control legislation and public health policies.  
Ireland’s policy on smoking is to promote an d subsequently move towards a tobacco free 
society. Tobacco Free Ireland, the latest policy document in the area, 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 two key themes underpinning the report are protecting children and the 
denormalisation of smoking. 
Tobacco Free Ireland approved by Government and launched in October 2013, addresses a 
range of tobacco control issues and initiatives and contains over 60 recommendations, 
including the introduction of standardised pa ckaging of tobacco products. It is the first G/TBT/N/IRL/1 
 
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  policy document to be published under the Healthy Ireland – A Framework for Improved 
Health and Wellbeing 2013 - 2025, which was also launched in 2013.  The current health status of people in Ireland, lifestyle trends and inequalities in health outcomes are leading 
us towards a dangerously unhealthy and unafford able future.  Healthy Ireland sets out a 
vision that will improve the health and wellbei ng of all the population of Ireland over the 
next 12 years.  It puts forward a "whole of society" approach and new arrangements to 
ensure more effective co-operation to achieve better outcomes for all. 
The World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to which 
Ireland is a signatory, provides the international context for tobacco control measures. The 
guidelines for implementation of Article 11 of  the Convention state that "Parties should 
consider adopting measures to restrict or prohibit the use of logos, colours, brand images or promotional information on packaging other than brand names and product names displayed in a standard colour and font styl e (plain packaging). This may increase the 
noticeability and effectiveness of health warnings and messages prevent the package from 
detracting attention from them and address industry package design techniques that may suggest that some products are less harmful than others". 
The revision of the EU Tobacco Products Directive was a priority for Ireland during its EU 
Presidency in 2013. The European Council has now formally adopted the Directive, and it 
has been in force from 20th May 2014. Member States have two years to transpose the 
new rules into national law. Areas covered by the revised Directive include labelling and 
packaging, ingredients and emissions, traceability and security features and cross border distance sales of tobacco. While the revised Directive does not go so far as to introduce standardised packaging on an EU-wide basis, it provides that it shall not affect the rights of 
Member States to introduce further requirements in relation to standardised packaging. 
Standardised packaging forms the latest strand of a comprehensive range of tobacco 
control legislation already in place in Ireland aimed at decreasing tobacco consumption. 
Evidence shows that tobacco branding works in three key ways: 
- Packs are designed to be attractive and to communicate the personality of the 
 brand; 
- Lighter coloured packs mislead consumer s, falsely suggesting that some tobacco 
 products are healthier than others; 
- Branding on packs reduces the prominence and effectiveness of health warnings. 
Standardised packaging means that all forms of  branding – trademarks, logos, colours and 
graphics – would be removed, except for the brand and variant name, which would be represented in a uniform typeface for all brands on the market. All packs would be in a 
plain neutral colour, except for the mandatory health warnings. 
There is a wealth of evidence to support th e introduction of standardised packaging. 
Research shows that standardised packaging will: 
- Increase the noticeability, recall and impact of health warning messages; 
- Reduce the ability of packaging to mislead consumers to believe that some products 
 may be less harmful than others; and  
- Reduce the attractiveness of the tobacco product, for both adults and children. 
8. Relevant documents:   
1. Directive 2014/40/EU of the European Parl iament and of the Council of 3 April 
 2014 on the approximation of the laws, re gulations and administrative provisions 
 of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of 
 tobacco and related products and repealing Directive 2001/37/EC 
2. Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013  
3. Public Health (Standardised Packag ing of Tobacco) Bill 2014 Explanatory 
 Memorandum 
4. Regulatory Impact Analysis (to be provided shortly when available) G/TBT/N/IRL/1 
 
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  5. Healthy Ireland – A Framework for Im proved Health an d Wellbeing 2013-2025 
 (2013) http://www.dohc.ie/publications/pdf/Hea lthyIrelandBrochureWA2.pdf?direct=1  
6. Tobacco Free Ireland (2013) 
http://www.dohc.ie/publications/pdf /TobaccoFreeIrel and.pdf?direct=1   
7. Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Evidence Review 
http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/20 14/06/Standardized-Packaging-of-Tobacco-
Products-Evidence-Review.pdf   
8. Plain Tobacco Packaging - A Systematic Review 
http://phrc.lshtm.ac.uk/papers/PHRC_006_Final_Report.pdf   
9. Plain Tobacco Packaging Research - An Update 
http://www.stir.ac.uk/media/schools/manage ment/documents/Plain %20Packaging%20Stu
dies%20Update.pdf   
10. Standardised packaging of tobacco - Report  of the independent review undertaken 
 by Sir Cyril Chantler http://www.kcl.ac.uk/health/ 10035-TSO-290185 3-Chantler-
Review-ACCESSIBLE.PDF  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   To be determined 
Proposed date of entry into force:   To be determined   
10. Final date for comments: 90 days from notification 
11. Texts available from: Nati onal enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers email and website addresses,  if available, of other body:   
Trade Policy Unit, 
Department of Jobs, Ente rprise and Innovation  
23 Kildare Street  
Dublin 2  Phone:  + (353 1) 6321409  
Fax: + (353 1) 6312562  
Email:  trade@djei.ie   
Website: www.ent. 
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2014/TBT/IRL/14_2757_00_e.pdf  
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2014/TBT/IRL/14_2757_01_e.pdf  
http://members.wto.org/crnattachme nts/2014/tbt/IRL/14_2757_02_e.pdf