Hong Kong urged to take tougher anti-smoking measures, ban vaping devices
School association and member of city’s largest party suggest banning vaping devices and ‘smoking while walking’ after tobacco control bill passed
A school association and a member of Hong Kong’s largest political party have urged the government to take tougher tobacco control measures, including banning vaping devices and outlawing “smoking while walking”.
The calls on Friday came a day after lawmakers passed the Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Bill following its second and third readings, as the government sought to further reduce the smoking rate, which stood at 9.1 per cent.
The bill covers eight of the 10 tobacco control measures proposed by the government in June last year, including prohibiting the possession or use of alternative smoking products in public by April 30 of next year, and banning the sale of flavoured conventional products – other than menthol – from the second quarter of 2027.
A ban on menthol-flavoured products will be included in a later phase of the policy, but no timetable has been set.
A stamp duty system to mark duty-paid cigarettes, along with a ban on smoking while queuing for public transport or entering specific places, will also be introduced.
Langton Cheung Yung-pong, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association, praised the passage of the bill as a crucial first step.