N Ireland health minister supports standardised cigarette packaging

According to Jim Wells, the region would be included in the UK government's proposals for plain tobacco product packets, which was due to be voted on by MPs in Westminster before the general election.

The potential law change had been backed by Wales, with Scottish ministers also signaling their support. With the support of MPs, plain packaging could be introduced by May 2016. Some Conservative MPs were opposed to the plans.

According to Wells, of the Democratic Unionist party, branding on cigarette packets provided one of the last opportunities for tobacco companies to promote their products.

He added, evidence showed that young people were more receptive to this type of advertising than adults.

He said, he believed that standardised packaging had the potential to contribute to a reduction in child and adult smoking prevalence and looked forward to the introduction of this measure in Northern Ireland.

Wells said he expected to see plain packaging made compulsory in the UK by next year, BBC reported.

He added ministers in England, Wales and Scotland were all proposing implementing the same legislation.

The regulations would be formulated during the current parliament and could come into force in May 2016.

According to anti-smoking campaigners, cigarette branding and packaging encouraged people to smoke.

Wells told the BBC's Evening Extra programme, "From 2016, all the packages will be plain brown, apart from a very stark health warning on them."

He added he supported a ban on what he termed "glamorous packaging".

He said particularly some of the packages that were aimed at young girls were almost like perfume bottles in their appearance, designed to excite and designed to look as 'cool' when they were brandished by those who smoked.

"We want to discourage young people from taking up the habit, because what we do know is, for 80 per cent of those who start smoking, start before the age of 18, and therefore we have to make smoking as uninteresting and as boring and dull as possible."