Member

EU law explicitly encourages member states to set and enforce age of sale limits to protect children and young people. In the absence of harmonised rules on age of sale, member states—and, therefore, by extension, Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework—retain discretion to determine the age they consider appropriate. When it comes to trade rules, the protection of public health, particularly the health of children, is one of the most firmly established justifications for restricting intra-EU trade. Given that smoking causes at least 16 cancers and remains the leading cause of preventable death in the UK, it is difficult to see how the Bill could be judged anything other than proportionate and consistent with the tobacco products directive and EU free movement principles.