Ms Siobháin Brophy:

This is known colloquially as the track-and trace-system. Since 2019, every tobacco product, whether cigarette or rolling tobacco, has a unique identifier on it. This can be tracked all the way through the supply chain. This comes under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the protocol on illicit tobacco. It is an EU response to the issue of illicit tobacco. We have worked with the Revenue Commissioners. This comes under the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, DG SANTE, in the EU. Its overall objective is to make sure that each tobacco product leaving a manufacturer can be tracked all the way through the supply chain to the retailer. It could be argued that what we are doing by introducing a licensing system is the next step in this process. It will bring in greater controls which will lead to better and more comprehensive enforcement. Revenue would say that it is becoming more successful in targeting the smuggling of tobacco products. It has the figures to back that up. The traceability and security of this system is another tool to help us deal with the issue of illicit tobacco. The World Health Organization would still say that raising taxes on tobacco is one of the most effective and efficient ways to reduce tobacco consumption.