http://www.tobaccojournal.com/Northern_Ireland_sets_tobacco_display_ban_for_spring.50764.0.html
| 23 Aug 2011. Northern Ireland’s health minister Edwin Poots said a ban on displaying cigarettes in shops will not begin until next spring at the earliest, reports the Belfast Telegraph. |
| Poots also wants to ban vending machine sales from 1 February 2012. He said removing displays of tobacco products from view in shops, and preventing children from accessing them through vending machines, would “build upon measures already in place aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking”.
In March 2009 the Assembly approved the ban on the display of tobacco items in shops in Northern Ireland. Then health minister Michael McGimpsey wanted to introduce the prohibition in 2010 but the Democratic Unionist Party argued for a delay to 2013 to give retailers time to fund changes to their premises. (pi) |