Imperial Brands John Player

Lobbying Organisation Imperial Brands John Player

Date published 18 Jan, 2016

Relevant Matter Legislation

Public Policy Area Health

Period 1 Sep, 2015 to 31 Dec, 2015

Specific Details New EU packaging rules for tobacco products come on stream in May 2016 including large 65% Picture Health Warnings. John Player requires technical guidelines & legal clarity from the Department (including HIgh Res files of Picture Heath Warnings) so that we can adapt our processess and prepare for production to enable us meet the manufacturing deadline which was 8 months away.

Intended results As we were operating in an information vacuum, we asked the Department of Health to furnish us with draft regulations and guidance so that we could make an informed judgement to reach maximum compliance by May 2016.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Peter Lassche and Deirdre Healy, Market Manager and Corporate & Legal Affairs Manager

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Letter (1)

We previously wrote to the Minister for Health in July and August 2015 to seek the legal and technical clarity we require to be compliant with the European Tobacco Products Directive from May 2016.

Phone call (1)

The European Commission sent the artwork files of picture health warnings to Member States' Health Departments in October 2015. In December we called a Tobacco official in the Department of Health to urgently seek the High Resolution files required to manufacture compliant product by the deadline of May 2016. All Member States must meet the May 2016 deadline and there will be capacity pressures particularly for small markets such as Ireland.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Leo Varadkar Minister (Department of Health)