Right on deadline, Ireland transposes the TPD

The Republic of Ireland has succeeded in transposing the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) at the eleventh hour, with recently-appointed health minister Simon Harris signing the necessary regulations to come into force today.

A seemingly straightforward transposition of the TPD’s mandatory requirements relating to e-cigarettes, the European Union (Manufacture, Presentation and Sale of Tobacco and Related Products) Regulations 2016 allow cross-border distance sales provided that suppliers register.

They also allow advertising to continue in media where the TPD has not specifically banned it.

Many other European countries look likely to miss today’s deadline for TPD transposition. The Irish health ministry has blamed its delay in implementing the TPD on the 70-day political impasse prior to the formation of the current minority government.

The new regulations also include many measures relating to tobacco, and Harris indicated that Ireland planned to move ahead on requiring plain packaging for cigarettes soon.

– ECigIntelligence staff

Graphic: Carl Gamble

Barnaby Page

Editorial director

Before joining ECigIntelligence in early 2014 as one of its first employees, Barnaby had a 30-year career as a reporter and editor for newspapers, magazines and online services, working in Canada, the US and the Middle East as well as his current British location. He has edited publications covering fields including technology and the advertising industry, and was launch editor of the first large daily online news service in the British regional media. Barnaby also writes on classical music and film for a number of publications. Barnaby manages the editorial and reporting teams and works closely with the analyst teams, to ensure that all content meets high standards of quality and relevance. He also writes for the site occasionally, mostly on science-related issues, and is a member of the Association of British Science Writers.