We did not bow to e-cigarette makers in rejecting full ban, Hong Kong health chief Sophia Chan says
Minister says government being pragmatic in planned regulations on increasingly popular – and controversial – product
Hong Kong’s health minister defended her decision not to ban electronic cigarettes on Saturday, saying the government was being pragmatic in its planned regulations.
Having turned down the total ban suggested by her own bureau in 2015, Sophia Chan Siu-chee said officials did not rule out more stringent controls in future.
She denied she had backed down to e-cigarette producers and said a complete ban was only “one way of regulating cigarettes”.
Producers have argued that e-cigarettes should not be treated the same as traditional cigarettes, but doctors have called for a complete ban on them, arguing they are no less of a health risk than their forerunners.
“Sometimes things need to be taken step by step,” Chan told a radio programme on Saturday. “I hope the medical sector does not see this as relaxing control. We are strengthening regulation instead.”