ASH Ireland welcomes a preliminary decision by the European Court of Justice today, which essentially supports the Irish Government plans to introduce plain packaging of tobacco – as already successfully introduced in Australia.
Dr Ross Morgan, Chairman of Ash Ireland and a Consultant Respiratory Physician said today, “ASH Ireland and indeed all of us who support the protection of our nations health welcome this decision by the European Court today. We now look forward to supporting the Irish Government with the introduction of standardised packaging, as a further anti-smoking health initiative. Over 5,200 of our citizens die from the effects of smoking each year – and treating the effects of smoking costs our health services in excess on 1 Billion euro annually – so measures must be taken to ease these dreadful statistics”
Today’s preliminary ruling comes after tobacco companies, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, brought proceedings against the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).
Extract from ruling by the European Court of Justice today, 23 12 15 “Concerning the standardisation of the labelling and packaging of tobacco products, Advocate General Kokott finds that the requirements relating to the shape (cuboid), size and minimum content of cigarette packets are proportionate. They make a particular contribution to increasing the visibility of health warnings and maximising their efficacy”.
23 December 2015
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ASH Ireland 