Factory shut down

A cigarette-manufacturing factory in the Tbong Khmum province of Cambodia was ordered on Tuesday to cease production because it was not including health warnings on its packs, according to a story in The Khmer Times.
Interior Ministry representatives together with court and local officials, shut down production and seized more than 1,600 non-compliant packs.
Hak Siek Lim, a Tbong Khmum Provincial Court spokesman, said production would not be allowed to restart until the company operating the factory, CTK Co. Ltd, was able to fulfil its obligations.
Dr. Mom Kong, executive director of the Cambodia Movement for Health, which pushed for the health warnings on cigarette packs, said that compliance was better among companies that sold cigarettes domestically and overseas.
Companies that sold mostly on the domestic market were more reluctant to warn the public about the dangers of smoking.
According to a National Center for Health Promotion report published last year, there were 1.68 million cigarette smokers in Cambodia.
In June, Health Minister Mam Bunheng said tobacco use was an obstacle to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, since it harmed public health, the economy and the environment.
“The Health Ministry wants to introduce a ban on smoking at work and in public places, prohibit tobacco advertising, and stop sponsorship and promotions by tobacco manufacturers,” he said.
Bunheng added that Ministry officials wanted also to strengthen warnings and images printed on tobacco product packaging and expand public health campaigns discouraging smoking.