Ireland’s latest tobacco legislation has been notified to the European Commission through the TRIS mechanism. This system facilitates information exchange between EU Member States and the Commission. For the next three months, Ireland is in a stand-still period while the Commission and member states assess the notification.

We invite organizations dedicated to a tobacco-free future to engage with the TRIS process. Your input is crucial to shaping policies aligned with the European tobacco-free generation goal by 2040 and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

🗣️ Submit your views now! 

📰 Share updates on changes to your country’s legal age of sale for tobacco products.

This event provided a space for learning, reflection and discussion on policy implications and future action to curtail and manage the commercial determinants of NCDs.

The latest fact sheet by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) explores the five harms of e-cigarettes, vaping devices, and disposable vapes. These products are heavily marketed to the youth via social media, disguised as everyday items or toys and flavored to attract users. They pose risks of addiction, harm human health, and have negative environmental impacts.

The Minister of Health in Ireland has achieved government support for legislation to raise the minimum legal age of sale for tobacco from 18 to 21 years.  In a recent press release, he made a clear statement of support for a renewed focus on tobacco endgame. ENSP applauds Ireland’s initiative as a best practice example for other EU Member States considering amendments to the legal age of sale. 

Starting 1st of July 2024, the Netherlands has banned the sale of tobacco products and e-cigarettes in supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and bars. The Dutch Cabinet wants to reduce the number of outlets selling tobacco. In 2024 the sale of tobacco in approximately 6,400 supermarkets will end.

In addition, as from 1st of January 2024 there is a ban on cross-border online sales of several novel products.

The School for Moral Ambition offers fellowships aimed at professionals transitioning into impactful careers focused on moral and social good. It includes a month of intensive training and six months of fieldwork with host organizations on meaningful projects. The goal of the Tobacco Control Fellowship program is to reduce global tobacco use through informed understanding within policy circles on Tobacco Control and its challenges. We're excited to announce that the ENSP has partnered with the School for Moral Ambition and will soon host a fellow in the ENSP office in Brussels. This collaboration aims to enhance our efforts in promoting public health and tobacco prevention.

"Social networks: a whole new world for the tobacco industry to conquer"

Young people are the prime target audience of the tobacco industry. Turning them into consumers is, quite simply, essential to the business’s survival. The barely disguised objective of every tobacco company is to lure young non-smokers (which they refer to as ‘pre-smokers’) onto one of their brands as early as possible, before their competitors do so. This study explores the many new marketing methods, including the vast social network field, which offers Big Tobacco countless opportunities to promote their products in the virtual space, open, borderless, intrusive, and especially not subject to the usual regulations concerning targeted marketing.