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SCMP Reporter

Cigarettes sold in Hong Kong have passed a government tar and nicotine test but anti-tobacco activists fear this may encourage more people to start smoking.

 The Government Laboratory's annual test for last year - the results of which will be announced today - will show that of the 98 major cigarette brands sold in the SAR none exceeded a maximum level of 17 micrograms of tar per cigarette.

 In the 1998 test, three brands - Chesterfield, Chunghwa and Pall Mall - exceeded the maximum, reaching a level of 18 micrograms.

 The level of nicotine tends to increase proportionately with the level of tar. Nicotine increases smokers' addiction while tar generally damages their health.

 The government test, first carried out in 1983, was stepped up from once every two years to annually after calls for stringent control of tar levels.

 Last July legislation was enacted ruling that cigarette tar content could not exceed 17 micrograms per cigarette.

 The executive director of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, Marcus Yu Hin-sum, said he feared the test results could lead to misconceptions.

 'Lower tar levels may not be necessarily good news. Smokers may be less alert and think that there is less risk and smoke more,' he said.

 By July, the Government will require all cigarette brands to list their exact tar content on packets.

 Mr Yu welcomed the move but urged officials to step up consultation on extending no-smoking spaces in restaurants. The council wants no-smoking areas to be extended to two-thirds in restaurants with more than 200 seats, and a complete ban in the long-term.

 At present, only one-third of seats are non-smoking in restaurants with 200 seats. A spokesman for the Health and Welfare Bureau said plans to form a proposed tobacco control office were also under way.

 The office is expected to start work later this year.

 In Hong Kong, an average of 4,000 people die each year of smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, heart attacks and respiratory deterioration.



Low tar could give wrong smoke signals