S.I. No. 7/1986 - Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Regulations, 1986.

S.I. No. 7 of 1986.

TOBACCO PRODUCTS (CONTROL OF ADVERTISING, SPONSORSHIP AND SALES PROMOTION) REGULATIONS, 1986.

The Minister for Health in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 2 of the Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Act, 1978 (No. 27 of 1978) hereby makes the following Regulations:—

PART I. GENERAL.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Regulations, 1986.

2. (1) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1986.

(2) The Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 350 of 1979 ) are hereby revoked.

3. In these Regulations—

"the Act" means the Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Act, 1978 ;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Health;

"cigarettes" include hand rolling tobacco;

"package" includes any packet, container, wrapper or other form of packaging;

4. These Regulations may be enforced by officers of the Minister and by officers of health boards established under the Health Act, 1970 (No. 1 of 1970).

5. A person engaged in the importation, manufacture, sale, advertising, sponsorship, promotion or distribution of tobacco products shall furnish to the Minister such information as the Minister considers necessary for the enforcement of these Regulations, and such information shall include the provision of information on expenditure, on advertising and on sponsorship.

6. A person shall not import for sale any newspaper, magazine, or publication containing an advertisement for a tobacco product unless—

(i) the advertisement for the tobacco product complies with the provisions of these Regulations, or

(ii) the Minister has determined that the advertisement for the tobacco product conforms generally with the intent of the requirements of these Regulations, and, in particular, that it includes as appropriate a statement required in the country of origin indicating the risk to the health of persons associated with the use of tobacco products, or that it will not significantly increase the consumption of tobacco products in the State.

7. (1) Following the publication of the appropriate notice referred to in sub-article (3) of this article a person shall not accept an advertisement for a tobacco product for display or publication from a person whose expenditure upon advertising of tobacco products has not been approved by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of article 19 of these Regulations.

(2) Following the publication of the appropriate notice referred to in sub-article (3) of this article a person shall not accept any sponsorship as defined in the Act, from a person whose expenditure upon sponsorship has not been approved by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of article 21 of these Regulations.

(3) The Minister shall on an appropriate day in the month of December, 1986, and in the month of December in each subsequent year cause a notice to be published in Iris Oifigiúil and in two or more daily newspapers containing a list of persons whose expenditure upon advertising of tobacco products has been approved in pursuance of the provisions of article 19 of these Regulations and of persons whose expenditure on sponsorship has been approved in accordance with the provisions of article 21 of these Regulations.

8. The provisions of these Regulations shall not apply to—

(a) advertisements directed solely to the tobacco trade and which do not reach the public, and

(b) the sale and packaging of tobacco products in duty-free zones at airports and on board aircraft and ships.

PART II. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND LABELLING OF PACKAGES.

9. (1) A person shall not advertise tobacco products save in accordance with this part of these Regulations.

(2) Subject to the provisions of articles 10, 11, 12 and 13 tobacco products may be advertised only in the following manners:—

(a) in newspapers, magazines or other similar publications, other than comics, comic supplements or any other publications directed primarily to persons under the age of eighteen years;

(b) internally in premises which are points of retail sale of tobacco products, provided that such advertising is not by means of sound or electronic media;

(c) externally at premises which are points of retail sale of tobacco products, by means of fascia signs, fixed window advertisements and hanging box signs, where such types of signs and advertisements for tobacco products were displayed at such premises on the 31st day of October, 1979, and where the size of the signs and advertisements does not exceed the following dimensions:—

(i) 6 metres x 65 centimetres for fascia signs and for fixed window advertisements;

(ii) 90 centimetres x 70 centimetres x 30 centimetres for hanging box signs;

(d) externally at premises which are points of retail sale of tobacco products, by means of fixed enamel-plate advertisements where such advertisements were displayed at such premises on the 31st day of October, 1979;

(e) on packages of tobacco products.

10. Advertisements of tobacco products shall not contain anything other than the following:—

(a) a brand name, brand emblem, corporate name and emblem,

(b) one single representation of the tobacco product and package,

(c) an indication of the place of manufacture, type, size, quantity and price,

(d) an approved statement as specified under articles 13 or 14, and

(e) a plain background consisting of one even colour.

11. Advertisements of tobacco products shall not:—

(a) claim or imply that smoking is free from risk to health or that it is less harmful to smoke one brand of tobacco products than another,

(b) describe filters, additives, tobacco substitutes, other components of tobacco products or manufacturing processes so as to suggest that they render the product less harmful to health, or

(c) include or imply any personal testimonial for, or recommendation of, a tobacco product, or claim or imply directly, or indirectly, the recommendation of a particular brand by any group or class of people.

12. Advertisements of tobacco products shall not contain:—

(a) any representation of the tobacco product during or after combustion, or

(b) any representation of smoke or any other tobacco by-product.

13. (1) Every advertisement of tobacco products shall include a statement, in one of the forms prescribed in Part I of the Schedule to these Regulations, indicating the risk to health of persons associated with the use of tobacco products, which statement shall comply with the requirements set out in Part 2 and Part 3 of the Schedule to these Regulations.

(2) In the advertising of tobacco products in the manner referred to in sub-article 9(2)(a), a person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products shall ensure that each of the approved statements in Part I of the Schedule to these Regulations is shown in an approximately equal number of advertisements in a period of twelve months in accordance with a plan to be submitted annually and approved by the Minister.

(3) In the advertising of tobacco products in the manner referred to in sub-article 9(2)(b), 9(2)(c) and 9(2)(d), a person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products shall ensure that such advertising shall bear a statement as specified in Part I of the Schedule to these Regulations and as approved by the Minister for use in such advertisements in the relevant year, which statement shall comply with the requirements set out in Part 2 and Part 3 of the said Schedule.

14. (1) Every package of tobacco products supplied for retail sale by a person engaged in the manufacture, packaging and importation of tobacco products shall bear an approved statement, as specified in Part I of the Schedule to these Regulations, indicating the risk to the health of persons which is associated with the use of tobacco products, which statement shall comply with the requirements set out in part 2 and Part 4 of the said Schedule.

(2) In the distribution of tobacco products, a person engaged in the manufacture, importation or distribution of tobacco products shall ensure that an approximately equal number of packages of a brand of a tobacco product shall bear each of the approved statements as specified in part I of the Schedule to these Regulations and that such packages shall be released with equal frequency generally throughout the retail market yearly in accordance with a plan submitted by the person and approved by the Minister.

15. Reference to, or representations of tobacco products shall not be included in any advertisement for any other article, service, or in relation to any person.

16. (1) A person shall not sell a tobacco product of a particular brand at a price lower than that otherwise obtaining for that brand.

(2) A person shall not offer to sell a tobacco product of a particular brand at a price lower than otherwise obtaining for that brand by making available to persons a coupon or similar document.

(3) A person shall not use, in relation to the sale or purchase of tobacco products, offers of vouchers, trading stamps, coupons, premia, tokens or gifts (including gifts of tobacco products).

17. (1) A person shall not sell a tobacco product at a price as respects which the Minister, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by paragraph (i) of subsection (2) of section 2 of the Act, has formed an opinion that the sale of that product at such a price constitutes a sales promotion device.

(2) An opinion formed by the Minister under sub-article (1) of this article shall be communicated in writing to the person concerned.

18. A person shall not give financial or other inducements in consideration of being allowed to advertise a tobacco product at a point of retail sale.

19. (1) A person shall not incur expenditure on advertising of tobacco products unless such expenditure has been approved by the Minister and shall not exceed an amount determined in accordance with the provisions of this article.

(2) A person shall not incur expenditure on advertising of tobacco products in the year ended on the 31st day of December, 1986, in excess of an amount determined in respect of that year by the Minister under the Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Regulations, 1979 [ S.I. No. 350 of 1979 ] and in each succeeding year shall not incur such expenditure in excess of the act ual audited expenditure for the year ended 31st day of December, 1984, together with an increase by a percentage equal to the percentage by which the Consumer Price Index for mid-November in the year preceding each succeeding year shall exceed the Consumer Price Index for mid-November, 1984.

(3) A person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products in respect of which, in the twelve months prior to the date of coming into operation of these Regulations, expenditure on the advertising of tobacco products had not been incurred in the State shall not commence or cause to be commenced advertising in the State, without the prior approval of the Minister who shall, at the same time, determine the expenditure which such person may expend or cause to be expended on such advertising during a specified period.

(4) Expenditure for the purposes of this article means the total expenditure incurred in the preparation and display of advertisements as permitted under sub-article 9(2)(a), 9(2)(b), 9(2)(c) and 9(2)(d) but does not include expenditure on the design and production of packages.

(5) A decision by the Minister in pursuance of sub-articles (1) and (2) of this article shall be communicated in writing to the person.

PART III. SPONSORSHIP AND RELATED ADVERTISING.

20. A person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products shall not engage in the sponsorship of events or activities in which the participants are mainly under eighteen years of age.

21. (1) A person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products shall not incur expenditure on sponsorship in the year ended on the 31st day of December, 1986, in excess of the amount determined in respect of that year by the Minister under the Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Regulations, 1979 and in each succeeding year shall not incur such expenditure in excess of the amount determined for the year ended on the 31st day of December, 1986, together with an increase by a percentage equal to the percentage by which the Consumer Price Index for mid-November in the year preceding each such succeeding year shall exceed the Consumer Price Index for mid-November, 1985.

(2) A person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products who has, in the twelve months prior to the date of coming into operation of these Regulations, engaged in sponsorship in the State shall not commence any sponsorship in the State not hitherto undertaken in the State by a person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products without the prior approval of the Minister who shall, at the same time, determine the expenditure which such person may expend on any such sponsorship during a specified period.

(3) A person engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution or sale of tobacco products who has not, in the twelve months prior to the date of coming into operation of these Regulations, engaged in sponsorship in the State, shall not commence any sponsorship in the State without the prior approval of the Minister who shall, at the same time, determine the expenditure which such person may expend on such sponsorship during a specified period.

(4) Expenditure for the purposes of this article means the amount of money allocated to sponsorship annually without regard to any receipts accruing as a result of such sponsorship.

(5) A decision of the Minister in pursuance of the provisions of sub-article (1), (2) or (3) of this article shall be communicated in writing to the person concerned.

22. Subject to the provisions of article 23, sponsored events and activities shall be advertised only:—

(a) in newspapers, magazines or other similar publications, other than comics, comic supplements or any other publications directed primarily to persons under the age of eighteen years,

(b) at the event or activity, and

(c) internally in premises which are points of retail sale of tobacco products.

23. (1) An advertisement referred to in article 22 shall not contain anything other than the following:—

(a) the name of the event or activity,

(b) a description of the event or activity, and

(c) the name of the sponsor.

24. An advertisement displayed at a sponsored event or activity other than those referred to in sub-article 9(2)(b), 9(2)(c) and 9(2)(d), shall not bear any reference to, or representation of, a brand of tobacco product.

25. A person shall not display a sponsor's name or emblem or the brand name or symbol of a tobacco product on the person or equipment of a participant in, or of any person assisting at, an event or activity.

SCHEDULE.

PART I.

APPROVED STATEMENTS.

(1) The statement required by articles 13 and 14 shall be in one of the following forms on advertisements for, and packages of, cigarettes:—

(a) SMOKING CAUSES CANCER

(b) SMOKERS DIE YOUNGER

(c) SMOKING KILLS!

(2) The statement required by articles 13 and 14 shall be in the following forms on advertisements for and packages of, pipe tobacco, cigars and cigarillos:—

SMOKING SERIOUSLY DAMAGES YOUR HEALTH

(3) The statement required by articles 13 and 14 shall be in the following forms on advertisements for, and packages of, chewing tobacco:—

THIS PRODUCT MAY CAUSE ORAL CANCER

PART II.

ATTRIBUTION.

(1) The statement required by articles 10, 13 and 14 shall terminate on a separate line with the attribution 'Government Warning'.

(2) The attribution shall be printed in 'Helvetica' Upper and Lower Case Medium type.

PART III

APPROVED STATEMENTS ON NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES OR OTHER SIMILAR PUBLICATIONS AND POINT OF SALE ADVERTISING.

The statement required by article 13:—

(1) shall be clear and legible,

(2) shall be printed in 'Helvetica' Bold capitals,

(3) shall be printed in black on a white background,

(4) shall occupy a bounded area at the base of the advertisement which shall be clearly separate from the remainder of the advertisement and which shall not contain any other matter,

(5) shall occupy an area of not less than 15 per cent of the total area of the advertisement, and

(6) shall be in type sizes as specified in the following table:—

PART IV.

APPROVED STATEMENTS ON PACKAGES

The statement required by article 14:—

(1) shall be clear and legible,

(2) shall be printed in 'Helvetica' Bold capitals,

(3) shall be printed in black on a plain white background,

(4) shall appear on the front of the package,

(5) shall appear in a bounded area not less than 10 per cent. of the total area of the package,

(6) shall not be placed on the package so as to be broken when the package is opened,

(7) shall not be placed on transparent foil or other outer wrappings, and

(8) shall be printed in type sizes as specified in the following table:—

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Health this 17th

day of January, 1986.

BARRY DESMOND,

Minister for Health.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations control the promotion of tobacco products by means of advertising, sponsorship and certain other promotional activities. They replace the Tobacco Products (Control of Advertising, Sponsorship and Sales Promotion) Regulations, 1979. The effect of the Regulations is:—

— to restrict the media which may be used for tobacco advertising,

— to limit the content of advertisements of tobacco products,

— to require that advertisements for, and packages of, tobacco products display in rotation a number of health warnings,

— to provide for the curtailment of expenditure on advertising of tobacco products and sponsorship, by tobacco companies,

— to limit the form which advertising associated with sponsored events may take, and

— to prohibit the use of coupons, gifts, cut-price offers and sale promotions in relation to tobacco products.

The Regulations come into operation on the 1st of July, 1984.