Tobacco.org

HK Customs Seizes Illicit Cigarettes Worth 2.67 mln HKD 

Hong Kong Customs Tuesday announced that some 1.4 million sticks of illicit cigarettes worth about 2.67 million HK dollars were seized in an operation.

Customs officers on Monday intercepted a truck at an outdoor carpark in Tin Shui Wai, the New Territories, where some workmen were moving goods inside.

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HK Customs seizes illicit cigarettes worth about $2 mln 

Hong Kong Customs announced on Monday it has seized over 8.51 million sticks of illicit cigarettes worth about 16 million HK dollars (2.06 million U.S. dollars) with a duty potential of about 10 million HK dollars (1.29 million U.S. dollars).

Officers examined a 40-foot container declared as carrying " ovens" on board an incoming river trade vessel from Huangpu Port, Guangzhou and discovered the illicit cigarettes during a joint operation on Sunday.

The container was destined for the United Kingdom

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China looks to kick the habit 

Nearly one in three smokers worldwide lights up in China, where cigarettes -- commonly given as gifts -- are so tightly woven into the culture, some believe it's an impossible habit to kick. But a new report suggests the keys to quitting lie in the country's own backyard.

Hong Kong has successfully fought tobacco for two decades and seen its smoking rate drop from 23 percent in 1982, when the campaign began, to 12 percent in 2008. The former British colony, now under Chinese rule, hit cigarettes hard with taxes up to 300 percent, banned indoor smoking and promoted education through schools and public service announcements -- proving that smoking and Chinese culture aren't necessarily married for life.

"We all learn from shared experiences. The U.S. tobacco program has learned from Australia, Canada and others," said Jeffrey Koplan, from Emory Global Health Institute in Atlanta, who wrote a commentary published online Friday in The Lancet medical journal. "Hong Kong is very relevant to Chinese conditions, and the big lesson for all of us to learn is that effective health promotion programs are multidimensional."

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Hong Kong: a model of successful tobacco control in China  

China has begun to engage in tobacco control through activities by the Ministry of Health, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and non-governmental organisations, along with external funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bloomberg Initiative. China was a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and is committed to its enforcement. Nevertheless, the country faces an immense public health challenge and is at an early stage of effectively addressing the tobacco threat.

A bright spot for tobacco control can be found in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China. For more than 20 years, Hong Kong has sought to diminish the health burden of tobacco use, and has been remarkably successful. . . .

Trends in tobacco use in Hong Kong reflect the increasing range of elements and vigour of the region's control programme. Smoking prevalence in Hong Kong fell progressively from 23·3% in 1982 to 11·8% in 2008. However, challenges remain to be tackled, such as the rise in smoking among young people—from an average of nine cigarettes daily in 2005, to 11 in 2008—and the fairly static prevalence of female smokers during the past decade.9 Hong Kong has shown that an effective large-scale tobacco-control programme, promoted with adequate resources over many years, can shatter misconceptions about tobacco, change the social norm, and yield huge benefits, including a healthier population and economic savings. These efforts can serve as a useful best-practice example for China and other nations.

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Anti-smoking squads hired as Hong Kong extends cigarette ban 

A team of nearly 100 anti-smoking officers is toenforce a new ban on cigarettes at outdoor public transport interchanges in Hong Kong, a government official said Monday.

Hong Kong, which has already banned smoking in many outdoor areas including public parks and sports venues, is to extend the ban to outdoor public transport interchanges before the end of the year.

A team of 99 tobacco control inspectors with the power to issue spot fines of 1,500 Hong Kong dollars (193 US dollars) is to enforce the ban, Tobacco Control Office chief Ronald Lam said.

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Hong Kong: a model of successful tobacco control in China 

China was a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and is committed to its enforcement. Nevertheless, the country faces an immense public health challenge and is at an early stage of effectively addressing the tobacco threat.

A bright spot for tobacco control can be found in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China. For more than 20 years, Hong Kong has sought to diminish the health burden of tobacco use, and has been remarkably successful.3 The strategies and approaches used, although typical of effective tobacco-control programmes worldwide, might serve as a useful best-practice example for programmes underway or being considered in other cities and regions throughout China. Beginning with a health ordinance focusing on tobacco in 1982, Hong Kong started a step-by-step approach to tobacco control involving multipronged strategies aimed at reduction of supply and demand for tobacco use. Approaches have included legislative amendments, increased tobacco taxation, publicity and education, support for cessation, and gearing up of anti-tobacco leadership by the medical community.4 . . .

Hong Kong has shown that an effective large-scale tobacco-control programme, promoted with adequate resources over many years, can shatter misconceptions about tobacco, change the social norm, and yield huge benefits, including a healthier population and economic savings. These efforts can serve as a useful best-practice example for China and other nations.

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• Could Hong Kong teach China to quit smoking?  

Nearly one in three smokers worldwide lights up in China, where cigarettes - commonly given as gifts - are so tightly woven into the culture, some believe it's an impossible habit to kick. But a new report suggests the keys to quitting lie in the country's own backyard.

Hong Kong has successfully fought tobacco for two decades and seen its smoking rate drop from 23 percent in 1982 when the campaign began to 12 percent in 2008 - the lowest in the world. The former British colony, now under Chinese rule, hit cigarettes hard with taxes up to 300 percent, banned indoor smoking and promoted education through schools and public service announcements - proving that smoking and Chinese culture aren't necessarily married for life.

"We all learn from shared experiences. The U.S. tobacco program has learned from Australia, Canada and others," said Jeffrey Koplan, from Emory Global Health Institute in Atlanta, who wrote a commentary published online Friday in The Lancet medical journal. "Hong Kong is very relevant to Chinese conditions, and the big lesson for all of us to learn is that effective health promotion programs are multidimensional."

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‘Love in a Puff’ Sets Romantic Tale Amid Cigarette Breaks  

As every smoker in Hong Kong is painfully aware of, the government implemented a law — that went into effect Jan. 1, 2007 — banning people from lighting up in most public places. It’s now a common sight around the city to see office workers duck out for a quick drag, gathering around the outdoor ash trays that rest atop public trash bins. (They’re colloquially referred to as a “hot pot.”)

It’s in this chummy environment where co-workers bond while swapping bits of office gossip.

Pang, who also wrote the script, came up with the idea after visiting a smoker friend who seemed to know all the women in the office building where he worked. “I was jealous,” the 36-year-old director said in an interview. . . .

“Love in a Puff” opens for general release in Hong Kong on March 25 and Singapore on April 22.

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Youth tobacco-control measures effective 

The percentage of smokers in the 15-19 age group in Hong Kong dropped from 3.5% in 2005 to 2.4% in 2008, showing the tobacco-control measures aimed at young people have been largely effective, Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow says.

He told lawmakers restricting access to cigarettes solely by legislation will not produce significant effects because young people can still get cigarettes from multiple channels including their friends and family.

"The Government has long been taking a multi-pronged, progressive approach to minimise the harmful effects of tobacco on young people. Measures adopted include publicity and education, provision of smoking-cessation services, increase of tobacco duty, and enactment of legislation to ban tobacco advertisements and expand the statutory no-smoking areas.

"The enforcement of the legislative provisions that prohibit the sale of cigarettes to persons under the age of 18 is also part of the Government's tobacco-control efforts targeting young people."

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Sky Connection pledges to fight Hong Kong tobacco proposals 

Hong Kong-Mainland China border crossings such as Lo Wu are vital for Sky Connection's tobacco business

HONG KONG. Government proposals to abolish inbound tobacco allowances for travellers would have a severe impact on cigarette sales, notably at shops on the border with the Chinese Mainland. That's according to leading travel retailer Sky Connection, which says it is already lobbying vigorously against the proposals, announced last week by Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang.

Sky Connection operates Arrivals (as well as Departures) shops at Hong Kong International Airport and serves inbound travellers from China at its shops on the land border.

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Hong Kong plans to abolish inbound duty free tobacco allowances  

The government of Hong Kong is planning to abolish inbound duty free allowances for travellers, citing "public health reasons". The move will come as a blow to retailers such as Sky Connection, which operates the Arrivals duty free concession at Hong Kong International Airport under the Free Duty brand.

The move also brings Hong Kong in line with countries such as Singapore, which do not allow inbound duty free tobacco purchases.

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HK prisoners' earnings tightened to reduce smoking  

Hong Kong's Correctional Services Department (CSD) announced on Tuesday changes to prisoners' earnings arrangements. They include delinking cigarette prices from the mechanism for adjusting prisoners' earnings.

A CSD spokesperson said the department conducted a review of prisoners' earnings arrangements in 2009. After detailed consideration, the department decided to delink cigarette prices from the mechanism for adjusting prisoners' earnings to encourage inmates to reduce smoking and to align with the Government's anti- smoking policy.

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• Cigarettes too cheap in Hong Kong, health groups say 

Health groups in Hong Kong Monday called for a sharp rise in tobacco duty as a study revealed cigarettes in the city are among the cheapest in the developed world. Buying 1,000 cigarettes of one brand in Hong Kong costs just 217 US dollars compared to 409 US dollars in New York and 503 US dollars in London.

Those cigarettes would also cost significantly more in Melbourne (277 US dollars), Singapore (361 US dollars), Paris (361 US dollars) and Dublin (577 US dollars), the survey found.

The study by health groups in Hong Kong was released ahead of Wednesday's budget when financial secretary John Tsang is under pressure to push up the price of cigarettes in the city of 7 million.

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This Week In Trailers: Love In A Puff Trailer  

I may not know filmmaker Pang Ho-Cheung’s previous works but this trailer works for me in that it seems like it is a small film about two people who each share an interesting quirk. Not only that, and I have no idea how far our Stalinist government now goes in regulating the quantity of smoke you can have in an advert, there is at least a metric ton of billowing smoke oozing out of these people’s mouths.

Taking a page, ripped from the headlines, out of their pop culture, out of their news we get introduced to Hong Kong’s stance on smoking. They may be half a world away but in quick fashion we get the government’s stance on what they think of the cancer causing pastime. It communicates so much without saying anything. I get it.

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• Secondhand smoke raises TB risk: study 

Smoking has long been known to boost tuberculosis risk, and a new study from Hong Kong suggests that being exposed to someone else's tobacco smoke also increases the likelihood of contracting the disease.

Dr. Chi C. Leung of the Wanchai Chest Clinic in Wanchai and colleagues compared TB risk in older women living with at least one smoker to that of women living in smoke-free homes. The study included 15,486 non-smoking women 65 to 74 years old, all of whom lived with their husbands. All of the women had enrolled at one of the territory's 18 Elderly Health Centers between 2000 and 2003, and about one in four lived with a smoker.

During follow-up, which lasted through the end of 2008 (or until a person died or was diagnosed with TB), 117 women developed active TB and 69 of these cases were confirmed in a laboratory.

Leung's team found that women who had been exposed to secondhand smoke were 1.5 times more likely to develop active TB than women who didn't live with a smoker, while their risk of culture-confirmed TB was 1.7-fold higher. . . .

The findings appear in the latest issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

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