Tag: Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland to Adopt Generational Ban

Stormont (Credit: Vivacity Images)
Northern Ireland will participate in the U.K. generational tobacco ban.
The U.K. Tobacco and Vapes Bill aims to phase out the sale of cigarettes. It would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, after they turn 18.
It would also provide powers to address vaping among young people. The bill is part of the U.K. government’s plan for a “smoke-free generation,” according to the BBC.
The Northern Ireland Assembly endorsed a legislative consent motion on May 21 to allow the bill to apply to Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann said the bill aims to “stop people from ever starting to smoke, thus preventing a lifetime of addiction.” He dismissed arguments that the legislation is “nanny statism” and would deny people “freedom of choice.”
On vapes, he said the bill includes regulation-making powers to allow for future restrictions on vape flavors, packaging and point-of-sale displays. The bill is progressing through Parliament despite opposition from several leading Tory figures.
May 22, 2024
Ulster Bans Smoking in Cars with Children

Photo: Nenov Brothers
Northern Ireland has banned smoking in a car with children, bringing its laws in line with other regions of the United Kingdom, reports the BBC.
Violators face fines of up to £2,500 ($3,391), but police will be taking an educational, advisory and non-confrontational approach when enforcing the new legislation until the end of February 2022.
It is already illegal to smoke on public transport or to smoke in work vehicles used by more than one person in Northern Ireland.
Chief Inspector Graham Dodds said people caught smoking in cars with children would initially be given warnings rather than fines, giving time for public awareness of the offences to build.
Health advocates welcomed the new laws as a “significant move to a tobacco-free Northern Ireland.” Naomi Thompson, from Cancer Focus NI, said the laws would protect children’s health and reduce the perception for children that smoking is normal behavior.
A ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children has been in force in England and Wales since October 2015. In Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, a ban took effect in 2016.
Northern Ireland also banned the sale of e-cigarettes and other nicotine inhaling products to anyone aged under 18.
February 4, 2022
Tobacco Brand Selection Dwindling in N. Ireland

Illustration Skypixel | Dreamstime.com
Cigarette makers are removing their brands from the Northern Ireland market due to the additional costs incurred from post-Brexit rules, reports Belfast Live.
The Northern Ireland Protocol requires tobacco products sold in the region to continue to bear EU pictorial health warnings, whereas the remainder of the U.K. is moving to Australia’s style of health warnings.
The protocol, which was agreed upon by the EU and U.K. to avoid a hard border on Ireland, keeps Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods but includes extra checks and regulatory processes for products arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
Imperial Brands announced that it will withdraw some of its brands in Northern Ireland due to the cost of establishing separate production lines for the different packaging.
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) announced a similar type of move, saying, “the post-Brexit requirement to have different packaging in Northern Ireland (i.e., different health warnings) will mean a very small additional reduction in our NI product range. JTI’s product range in Northern Ireland remains extensive, and whenever we delist a product, we always take consumer needs into careful consideration to ensure we have a range of alternatives and pack formats/sizes available within our brand portfolio for adult consumers to choose from.”
March 19, 2021
Voting with their butts
A borough council in Northern Ireland is trialing ‘ballot bins’ in an effort to reduce cigarette litter across the borough, according to a story by Duncan Elder for the Portadown Times.
Ballot bins, which have been used in other places in a number of guises, are customizable ashtray bins that encourage people to use them by providing smokers with the opportunity to vote on various issues.
The bins display questions about, say, favourite films or music, and users can vote for their preferred answer by putting their butts into one of the two containers.
A window in the bins displays which choice is winning.
The bins, part of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s Clean Neighbourhoods Action Plan, are designed to encourage people to put their cigarette butts in a bin rather than stubbing them out on the pavement.
Three such bins are being trialed within the town centres of Armagh, Banbridge and Lurgan in an effort to counter what is described in the story as the scourge of cigarette butts littering pavements.
The installation of more bins in targeted areas across the borough is planned for the New Year.
In the past the council has tried various measures aimed at reducing cigarette litter, including the imposition of big fines.
December 20, 2017
Production ended
The last pack of cigarettes has rolled off the production line at Japan Tobacco International’s facility in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, according to a BBC Online story relayed by the TMA.
It wasn’t clear from the TMA abstract of the story on which day manufacturing ceased but the story was dated October 24.
JTI is closing its production facility in Northern Ireland and shifting manufacturing operations to Poland, a move expected to result in the loss of 800 jobs in Northern Ireland.
Again, it wasn’t clear how many of those jobs had already disappeared.
The JTI UK website on October 26 was showing that the company had 900 employees across the UK, but at three locations, all of which were in England.
A JTI spokesman was quoted as saying that the company would like to “extend its deepest thanks to all current and past members of the Lisnafillan factory team for their dedication over the years and their continued commitment and professionalism until the very end of production”.
October 26, 2017