New rules on how tobacco products can be sold come into effect from today, thanks to an EU Directive.
Irish retailers will be forbidden from selling packs of tobacco smaller than 30g in size and any other products that do not comply with the Tobacco Products Directive, which comes into effect this weekend.
From today, products which do not comply with the regulations cannot be sold and any remaining stock of said products must be removed from sale, with retailers having had a year to deal with the implications of a directive that came into effect on 20 May, 2016.
Here’s a round-up of the changes:
- A ban on cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco with characterising flavours such as fruit flavours, menthol or vanilla;
- Minimum unit pack size of 30g for Roll-Your-Own tobacco;
- A ban on tobacco products containing certain additives;
- A ban on any misleading labelling (such as “natural” or “organic”);
- Increased size for combined health warnings and a requirement to place them on the front and back of the product;
- Additional reporting requirements for tobacco products;
- Notification requirements for electronic cigarettes, refill containers, herbal and novel tobacco products;
- Registration requirement for cross-border distance sales of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes or refill containers;
- Introduction of a tracking and tracing system;
- Regulation of electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
- Stricter rules on advertising/sponsorship for electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
- Mandatory safety and quality requirements for electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
- Certain provisions of the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Act 2015 have been commenced in order to the transpose the measures relating to Articles 13 and 14 of the Directive.
This guide on the Department of Health website highlights the new requirements for products, while the directive itself can be read in full here.
