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3 arrested in airmail cigarette seizure 

Prohibited parcels: Customs officers have seized 950,0000 illicit cigarettes worth $1.5 million and with a duty potential of $770,000 at the Air Mail Centre.

Customs officers have arrested three people in Hong Kong's largest illicit cigarette seizure so far this year.

In a special operation from April 22 to May 5, officers seized 950,0000 illicit cigarettes worth $1.5 million and with a duty potential of $770,000 at the Air Mail Centre.

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Officials, big tobacco 'too close' ($$) 

Senior government officials are being chummy with tobacco industry insiders who have infiltrated the administration, even using the industry's stock phrases to rationalise why Hong Kong has not increased tobacco duties, international experts said yesterday.

David Simpson, former director of Action on Smoking and Health UK who recommended the setting up of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, said his main concern for Hong Kong was "that tobacco industry people have taken positions in influential places where in my view they should not be permitted to be".

He pointed to government officials using the phrase "people who choose to smoke".

"For example, we heard that at quite senior level in a private conversation, a senior government official was saying it is difficult to ask taxpayers to foot the bill when people choose to smoke," Dr Simpson, director of the International Agency on Tobacco and Health, said.

"Why should taxpayers have to pay for the cost of enticing them to quit?" he said, adding: "There is only one source of the phrase `choose to smoke'."

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Tobacco lobby has infiltrated Hong Kong government, campaigner says 

Anti-smoking legislation in Hong Kong has been weakened over the past decade partly because of the links between officials and the tobacco industry, a campaigner alleged Thursday. Judith Mackay, World Health Organization advisor and director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, claimed industry influence has caused a "recession" in smoking controls.

She said the tobacco industry had become more influential with the government over the past 10 years, resulting in the watering down of long-awaited anti-smoking legislation.

Mackay complained about continuing delays to a full ban on smoking in pubs and nightclubs in the former British colony, and low taxes on cigarettes.

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Smoking at home `akin to suicide pact' 

Hong Kong's ban on smoking in public places has driven people to light up more often at home, setting off alarm bells over family health.

A study has revealed that 51 percent of 126 smokers interviewed lit up more often at home since the ban came into effect, with 56 percent of those saying the lack of alternative venues was the reason for doing so.

"Despite [the ban], there is a troubling trend of smokers lighting up more at home" said Betty Kwan Ka-mei, head of pressure group Smoke Terminators' Society, which carried out the study with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacies.

Smoking at home is especially dangerous for non-smokers because second-hand smoke comes direct off the cigarette unfiltered and is much more lethal to the comparatively safer smoke drawn in through filters, Kwan said.

"Smoking at home is akin to putting one's family through a charcoal- burning suicide mission," she said.

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Low tar, nicotine cigarettes 'still harmful' ($$) 

Cigarettes containing low levels of tar and nicotine were still harmful a spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) said on Tuesday.

The spokesman was citing the 2007 findings of the government laboratory on the tar and nicotine yields of 77 brands of cigarettes in Hong Kong.

“They best way to protect one’s health was to quit smoking,” the spokesman said.

He noted that the average tar and nicotine yields were 9.4 milligrams and 0.69 mg per cigarette respectively, representing a rise of 0.5 mg for tar and a drop of 0.08 mg for nicotine respectively compared with the findings of 2006.

He stressed that even cigarettes in the low-tar group were harmful to smokers’ health.

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• Tobacco lobby has infiltrated Hong Kong government, campaigner says 

Anti-smoking legislation in Hong Kong has been weakened over the past decade partly because of the links between officials and the tobacco industry, a campaigner alleged Thursday.

Judith Mackay, World Health Organization advisor and director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, claimed industry influence has caused a 'recession' in smoking controls.

She said the tobacco industry had become more influential with the government over the past 10 years, resulting in the watering down of long-awaited anti-smoking legislation.

Mackay complained about continuing delays to a full ban on smoking in pubs and nightclubs in the former British colony, and low taxes on cigarettes. . . .

'There have been ministers appointed in the government who have had serious tobacco industry contacts,' the activist said. 'There have been people appointed to the central policy unit who have very close links with the tobacco industry.'

Mackay argued that Hong Kong has gone from being the regional leader in tobacco controls to an also-ran, with Singapore overtaking the city as the one with the toughest anti-smoking legislation.

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调查显示：逾七成港人支持大幅提高烟草税 

一项调查显示，74.3%的受访香港市民支持大幅提高烟草税，以进一步加大香港禁烟力度。

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70%受访者赞成港府大增烟草税 冀防青少年吸烟 

据香港大公报报道，香港一项调查显示，大部分市民觉得青少年吸烟问题严重，但特区政府在防止青少年吸烟的工作不足。70%受访者支持特区政府增加烟草税。调查机构建议加烟税一倍，希望特区政府将部分烟税用于防止青少年吸烟工作。

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Tobacco tax drive to help youths quit 

Spending 10 percent of the extra revenue from a doubling of the tobacco tax in Wednesday's budget speech on education would help youths quit smoking, the Committee on Youth Smoking Prevention said yesterday.

A survey conducted jointly by the committee and the Chinese University's Hong Kong Institute of Asia Pacific Studies in December showed nine out of 10 respondents thought there is "an urgent" need to conduct anti-youth smoking campaigns.

Tik Chi-yuen, the committee chairman, said doubling the tax would provide more resources for the campaigns.

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研究显示禁烟条例生效后有助青少年戒烟 

香港大学的一项调查研究显示，禁烟条例生效后，青少年烟民吸烟量减少，有信心戒烟的青少年增多。

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香港禁烟条例增加青年戒烟动力 "校内烟民"减少 

香港大学21日发表的调查研究报告显示，禁烟条例生效后逾五成青少年称条例增加了他们戒烟动力，近三成半人表示更有信心戒烟。

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Amcor boosts stake in HK cigarette firm  

Box and bottle maker Amcor Ltd has increased its shareholding in the Hong Kong listed company AMVIG Holdings Ltd to 35.4 per cent, from 33.5 per cent.

Amcor acquired 18.756 million shares at $HK9.50 each for a total payment, of $HK178.2 million, around $A25 million.

The Hong Kong company is the largest cigarette packaging printer in China with an estimated 17 per cent market share.

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HK's Smoking Offenses Bill 2008 gazetted 

The Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offenses) Bill 2008 was gazetted in Hong Kong on Wednesday, which seeks to deal more effectively with the offense of smoking or carrying a lit cigarette, cigar or pipe in a statutory no smoking area or a transport carrier.

The bill could help better utilize the resources of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and the courts, a press release from the Information Services Department of HKSAR government said.

Under the bill, the fixed penalty level for smoking offenses is proposed at 1,500 HK dollars (about 193 U.S. dollars).

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• Smokers puff 12m more each month after ban ($$) 

Anti-smoking campaigner James Middleton of Clear the Air said the partial smoking ban had "no chance of success as long as [people] can continue to smoke in bars and restaurants that are granted these pathetic deferral exemptions".

Mr Middleton said it was "business as usual for the tobacco companies and smokers alike".

But the Tobacco Control Office insisted the ban was working.

Smoking is not allowed in indoor workplaces, restaurants, sports stadiums, parks and playgrounds or on beaches. But six types of establishments, including bars, nightclubs and mahjong parlours, have been given exemptions until June 30, 2009.

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EDITORIAL: It's time to build on smoking ban's success ($$) 

The year-old public smoking ban has, without doubt, saved lives by reducing people's exposure to second-hand smoke. But as a society, we have not made much headway in encouraging smokers to quit or discouraging others from taking up the deadly habit. The ban, therefore, has only been a partial victory for public health in Hong Kong.

As we report today, tobacco imports for local consumption rose slightly last year compared with the 12 months before the ban was introduced in January last year. . . .

An unfortunate side effect of the indoor smoking ban is that it has pushed more smokers to light up in the streets. This has caused many people to complain frequently about having noxious fumes blown in their faces. In many overseas cities, people are banned from smoking outside main entrances to buildings and other public facilities. A similar ban should be considered in Hong Kong. Some established office buildings have already set aside smoking corners to stop smokers from causing a nuisance at entrances.

As a liberal society, we cannot outlaw smoking, but we should certainly do our best to ban the noxious practice where we can and frown upon it when we can't

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