'Scarier' cigarette packet warnings and ban on e-cigarettes mooted in Hong Kong

Warnings on cigarette packets that "smoking kills" are not scary enough, according to new government proposals under which tobacco products will labelled with even more frightening content, a health official says.

Other new measures include expanding no-smoking areas and a citywide ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes, said Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee, undersecretary of the Food and Health Bureau.

These proposals are expected to be presented to the Legislative Council this year.

One of the bureau's main goals is to expand the size of the health warning, which now covers about 50 per cent of the pack, and to replace them with "scarier" messages targeted at female and young smokers.

Those currently in place had been criticised as not scary enough, Chan said. "They have been in use since 2006, and the government believes it is time to update the content," she said.

According to the Department of Health, the proportion of people who smoke daily has seen a downward trend, with a low of 10.7 per cent in 2012, the last year for which data is available. But while that is one of the lowest in the world, Chan said "we shouldn't be proud", and should continue trying to reduce it.

Many countries such as Thailand and Canada have enhanced the warnings by having them cover 60 to 80 per cent of each pack. In late 2012, Australia issued the world's toughest warning - by replacing all of the branding labels with warnings that cover the whole packet.