Smokers will no longer be allowed to light up while queuing in outdoor public places, such as at the Central harbourfront event space and in front of the Hong Kong Coliseum, under fresh measures to be announced on Thursday, the Post has learned.
Sharing cigarettes with people under 18 years old and smoking electronic cigarettes or heated tobacco products will also become offences, according to a source close to the policy decision-making process.
Health minister Lo Chung-mau and customs chief Louise Ho Pui-shan are expected to present the details at a press conference in the afternoon.
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“One can still smoke in an outdoor public space, but you need to stop it when you are in a queue. You can still choose to smoke away from the queue, but you will probably be the last one to get into the events,” the source said.
Under the plan, the outdoor spaces will cover public transport areas, public parks and entertainment locations such as the event space at the Central harbourfront and the Coliseum in Hung Hom.
The other measures were aimed at discouraging young people from developing smoking habits, with enforcement officers to investigate the source of cigarettes when they spot underage smokers.
The ban on the use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, more than two years after the government prohibited their import and sale in October 2021, was also targeted towards young residents who more commonly used the items.
“Possessing these products will not be allowed any more. It’s already been two years since the ban on their import and sale. It’s sensible to believe that people possessing or smoking these products might [have got them] from an illegitimate source,” the source said.
Penalties for the new offences would be revealed at a later stage when a bill was presented to lawmakers, the insider added.
A World Health Organization report published in 2020 noted that e-cigarette manufacturers often targeted young people with various flavours, adding that children and adolescents that used the products were more than twice as likely to try conventional cigarettes.
The Post reported on Wednesday that duty-paid cigarettes would also need to be labelled with anti-forgery features, and penalties for the sale and purchase of contraband would be increased, among other measures.
But other controversial proposals floated during a public consultation, such as a ban on smoking while walking and prohibition of the sale of tobacco products to people born after a specified date, would only be “explored further” as mid- to long-term measures.
Hong Kong already increased tobacco tax by 80 HK cents (10 US cents) per cigarette in February, the second annual increase in a row.
The increase raised the average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes by HK$16 to more than HK$90, compared with HK$19 to HK$38 a pack on the black market.
Higher costs and the return to normality after pandemic restrictions has led to an increase in cigarette smuggling.
The city’s smoking rate currently stands at 9.5 per cent, or nearly 600,000 people, with 50 per cent of them aged 50 or above. Authorities also noted an increasing number of women smokers, while 7 per cent of secondary school pupils had tried cigarettes.
Health authorities earlier said they would work towards a tobacco end-game, commonly defined as reducing the smoking prevalence to 5 per cent or below.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong penalties for illicit cigarettes to go up, anti-forgery features to be used
- Hong Kong anti-smoking watchdog calls for 75% increase in tobacco tax to bring city in line with WHO standards
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