Ireland is to become the first country in the European Union to ban branding on cigarette packages by using plain packaging and uniform labeling.

 

All trademarks¹, logos, colors and graphics² will be removed from tobacco products sold in Ireland under the new rules, the health ministry³ said, after the proposal secured backing from the government.

 

Dr James Reilly, the country's health minister, said while many arguments will be made against the move, he is confident the legislation will be justified⁴ and supported purely⁵ by the fact that it will save lives.

 

"Smoking places an enormous burden of illness and mortality on our society, with over 5,200 people dying every year from tobacco-related diseases," he said.

 

"One in two of all smokers⁶ will die from their addiction⁷.

 

"To replace the smokers who quit, the tobacco industry needs to recruit 50 new smokers in Ireland every day just to maintain smoking rates at their current level."

 

Dr Reilly also admitted that his father and brother, both doctors, died from smoking-related illness.

 

"I lost a brother who was a doctor, who understood fully⁸ what the cigarettes did, who was so addicted⁹ he couldn't give them up," he said. "And my father was prematurely¹⁰ blind because of a stroke and spent the last 14 years of his life without being able to see."

 

Smoking was a central part of Ireland’s pub culture until the country became the first in the world to ban smoking in all enclosed public places, public transport and workplaces in 2004.

 

The law will need to be approved in parliament before it can come into effect, but the governing coalition¹¹ enjoys a strong majority.

 

Under the plan, the brand name will be presented in a uniform typeface in packs of one plain neutral color, which has yet to be specified¹².

 

The British Government is considering banning branding on cigarette packets, but the proposal was omitted from the Government's legislative¹³ agenda laid out in parliament earlier this month.

 

Australia introduced plain olive green packets for cigarettes and tobacco products last year, prompting anger from tobacco firms.

 

Cuba, whose luxury cigars are world renowned¹⁴ and feature distinctive¹⁵ packages, has launched a challenge against the Australian law at the World Trade Organization.

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