The Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
Northern Ireland Statutory Rule 2025 No. 178 — creates 1 criminal offence.
- Made
- 18 November 2025
- In force from
- 18 May 2027
- Extent
- Not stated
- Subject
- Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
These Regulations prohibit persons from supplying or offering to supply wet wipes containing plastic (see definitions in regulation 2). The Regulations apply only in Northern Ireland. Regulation 3 prohibits the supply of wet wipes containing plastic subject to certain exemptions (regulations 4 to 6). The exemptions include the supply of wet wipes containing plastic by retail pharmacy business, supply for medical purposes, or supply to businesses. Breach of the prohibition is an offence (regulation 3), subject to the mutual recognition principle in section 2 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (c. 27) where applicable. It is a defence for a person to show that they took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence (regulation 7). An impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations would have upon the costs of business is available on request, from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Clare House, 303 Airport Road West, Belfast BT3 9ED.
Offences created by this instrument
- A person who, in the course of a business, supplies or offers to supply to an end user wet wipes containing plastic is… regulation 3(1) · Status not determined · Strict liability
What Parliament said about it
Hansard was searched for this instrument by name and returned nothing. That is the ordinary outcome: an instrument laid under the negative procedure is usually never debated, and becomes law without a word said about it in either House.
How Parliament handled it
Parliament's Statutory Instruments service has no record of this instrument, although it covers the period. Nothing is inferred from that.
Check the source
- This instrument on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text, including amendments made since
- Other instruments from 2025