Ireland passes EU's first tobacco plain packaging law

Ireland on Thursday became the first European Union member state to pass a law introducing mandatory plain packaging for tobacco products, prompting the tobacco industry to threaten legal action. Under the new rules all forms of branding, including logos and colours will be banned and all products will have a uniform packaging with graphic health warnings.
"We are creating legislation which will be historic and will be of real importance to the area of public health," the minister for children James Reilly told parliament Thursday. It follows Australia's introduction of similar plain packaging legislation in 2012. "We are on the verge of being the first country in the EU to pass a law on plain packaging. We are on the verge of the being only the second country in the world to pass a plain packaging law," Reilly said before the bill passed. The legislation had cross-party support and passed without a vote. It will be sent to the president to pass into law after a techincal vote in the upper house next week, although full implementation of the rules will not be effective until May 2017, when all existing packaging must be removed from sale.