Tag: Hong Kong

  • Hong Kong Mulls New Anti-Smoking Measures

    Hong Kong Mulls New Anti-Smoking Measures

    Photo: ChenPG

    Hong Kong announced several new anti-tobacco policies on June 6, reports The Standard.

    Among other measures, the city plans to introduce a new duty-paid labeling system, ban “smoke-and-queue” behavior in public, and prohibit all flavored cigarettes and alternative products including vapes and heated cigarettes.

    The rules are meant to help the government lower smoking prevalence to 7.8 percent by 2025 and ultimately achieve a “Tobacco-free Hong Kong” after the completion of a public consultation exercise launched last year.

    Other measures include raising the maximum penalty for evading tobacco duty to a HKD2 million ($256,082) fine and seven years’ imprisonment; a ban on providing cigarettes to underage teens and children; and continuous reviews on the adjustment of tobacco duty.

    The government will also maximize the area reserved for health warnings on cigarette packaging to 100 percent; expand non-smoking areas and increase fines for violations.

    Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the government strives to table the new policies to the Legislative Council before the end of this year and expects they will be passed within this legislative year.

    More than 90 percent of respondents to the public consultation agreed with further lowering the smoking prevalence.

    There are more than 570,000 daily smokers in Hong Kong and the latest prevalence stands at 9.1 percent, according to Director of Health Ronald Lam Man-kin.

  • Hong Kong Crackdown Nets $72 Million in Illegal Smokes

    Hong Kong Crackdown Nets $72 Million in Illegal Smokes

    Credit: Timothy S. Donahue

    Hong Kong customs officers seized untaxed cigarettes worth HK563 million ($72.1 million) during a nearly three-month illegal trade crackdown, coinciding with a tobacco tax increase in February.

    Assistant Commissioner Barry Lai Chi-wing said officers clamped down on the post-pandemic trend of smuggling the contraband into the city in small portions from February 19 to May 14 in an operation code-named “Tempest.”

    Part of the operation also took place after Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced in this year’s budget that the tobacco tax would be raised by 80 HK cents per stick with immediate effect, according to media reports.

    The increase raised the average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes by HK$16 to more than HK$90. A pack costs HK$19 to HK$38 on the black market.

    During the operation, 4,347 people, aged 15 to 89, were arrested. Officers confiscated 139 million sticks of suspected illicit cigarettes, 105kg of cigars, and around 1,525kg of manufactured tobacco products, which had a market value of HK625 million. The tax take would have been about HK454 million.

  • Hong Kong Mulls Duty-Paid Labels

    Hong Kong Mulls Duty-Paid Labels

    Image: muh

    Hong Kong officials are considering putting designated labels on tobacco products so they can be easily identified as duty-paid, according to acting Health Minister Libby Lee, reports rthk.hk.

    Lawmakers expressed concern regarding efforts to combat illicit cigarettes following an increase in tobacco tax for the second year in a row. Lee noted that officials are looking into the feasibility of placing customs labels on duty-paid products and that progress will be reported in a few months.

    Lawmakers Johnny Ng and Peter Shiu stated that the 12 people prosecuted since 2021 for promoting tobacco products was too low a number, noting that it is common to see flyers promoting illicit tobacco products being handed out at public housing estates.

    Lee’s responded that it is difficult to enforce because officers cannot prosecute someone for holding flyers. She noted, however, that tobacco control officers remove around 50 websites monthly that sell illicit products, but they sometimes run into enforcement problems as well.

    “When it comes to overseas websites, we also have difficulty closing these websites or taking enforcement actions,” said Lee. “However, we’ll set up enforcement efforts … and publicity.”

  • Hong Kong Seizes $26.6 Million in Illegal Cigs

    Hong Kong Seizes $26.6 Million in Illegal Cigs

    Credit: Timothy Donahue

    Customs officers in Hong Kong seized illegal cigarettes worth more than HK$208 million ($26.6 million) in the first 15 days after a tobacco tax increase came into force as part of last month’s budget.

    Superintendent Jeff Lau Leung-chi of the Customs Revenue Crimes Investigation Bureau said on Monday that if the tobacco had been legally imported, the contraband products would have generated about HK$147 million in tax.

    Lau attributed the increase in cigarette seizures to enhanced enforcement action at all levels to combat the trade in illegal tobacco products and the operation’s longer duration in the second phase, according to media reports.

    “We also believe that crime syndicates anticipated the possibility of an increase in tobacco tax, so they stockpiled a larger quantity of illicit cigarettes ahead of time to supply the market after the tax hike,” he said.

    The untaxed cigarettes were discovered over the second phase of a citywide operation code-named “Tempest”, which involved the arrest of 776 people between February 29 and March 14.

    During the first round of the operation, which took place between February 19 and 28, Customs detained 538 people and seized HK$62 million worth of illegal tobacco products in 10 days.

  • Hong Kong: Increase in Quit-Smoking Requests

    Hong Kong: Increase in Quit-Smoking Requests

    Image: chrisdorney

    Hong Kong has seen an increase in calls to its smoking cessation hotline following the tobacco tax increase to 70 percent. Legislative Council member Rebecca Chan Hoi-yan has asked the government to enhance assistance to people who wish to quit smoking, according to The Standard.   

    Cigarettes in Hong Kong now cost at least HKD94 ($12.01).

    Following the announcement of the tax hike, the weekly average number of people calling the quit-smoking hotline increased by four times.

    Chan has expressed concern that the government may not follow up on the cases and determine how many people are successful in quitting smoking or how many people eventually resume smoking. According to Chan, there is a need for continuous efforts to understand the reasons behind successful quitting and the challenges of those who resume smoking.

    She also called for comprehensive tobacco control policies by “focusing on target groups, such as teenagers, and implementing measures to track families in order to prevent teenagers from smoking.”

    “The government should focus on better education and promotional efforts instead of solely relying on increasing tobacco duty,” said Peter Shiu Ka-fai of the wholesale and retail sector. He argued that it is important to inform smokers of the harmful effects of cigarettes and respect their choices.

  • Hong Kong Urged to Raise Taxes

    Hong Kong Urged to Raise Taxes

    Photo: IB Photography

    The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) has called on the city’s government to increase the tobacco tax by at least three quarters in the 2024-2025 budget, reports the South China Morning Post.  

    Such a raise would bring the levy in line with the World Health Organization’s recommendation for taxes to account for 75 percent or more of cigarettes’ retail price. The proposed tax hike will push up the cigarette retail price to about HKD115 ($14.70) per pack, a potential tipping point for many smokers to consider cessation. 

    The move will also help Hong Kong achieve its goal of reducing smoking prevalence to 7.8 percent by 2025, according to the COSH. The smoking prevalence in Hong Kong was 9.5 percent in 2021. 

    COSH also advocates for an automatic tax increase mechanism for future annual tax hikes, adjusted to counteract the effects of inflation and income growth, and avoid the tax’s proportion in the overall retail price of cigarettes being decreased by industry price hikes.

     According to the COSH, raising the tobacco tax requires the least implementation costs and enforcement resources, and the shortest time for legislation and implementation, while delivering the quickest and most significant results.

  • Council Urges Steep Tobacco Tax Increase

    Council Urges Steep Tobacco Tax Increase

    Photo: Krakenimages.com

    Hong Kong’s anti-smoking watchdog has called for a 75 percent increase in tobacco tax to meet international standards, reports the South China Morning Post.

    If the tax rate is increased by 75 percent, the smoking rate could decrease by 0.7 percentage points to 8.8 percent, according to the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health. The council added that other control measures would be necessary to bring the city’s smoking rate down to the 7.8 percent goal by next year.

    The call for a tax increase comes before next month’s budget. Last year, the tax was increased 31.5 percent.

    “Raising tobacco tax should be prioritized for achieving the smoking reduction target,” council chairman Henry Tong Sau-chai said at a press conference.

    “[The increase last year] was insufficient to compensate for the price gap caused by the freezing of the tax rate in the previous eight years.”

    The World Health Organization has stated that the tax should account for at least three-quarters of the retail price of cigarettes, meaning Hong Kong would need an increase of 75 percent.

    “[Hong Kong is] in a really good position to reduce prevalence to the point in getting close to what we call the ‘endgame,’” said Hana Ross, an honorary research associate from the University of Cape Town’s school of economics. 

    Forty-one countries, including France, the United Kingdom and Australia, have reached the WHO’s recommended level of tobacco tax.

  • Hong Kong Seizures Hit $288 Million in 2023

    Hong Kong Seizures Hit $288 Million in 2023

    Credit: Alven 0920

    Customs officers in Hong Kong reported that the agency had impounded more than 650 million black market cigarettes worth HK$2.25 billion ($287.8 million) last year, the largest annual cash value in more than two decades, according to media reports.

    The seized cigarettes would have generated about HK$1.54 billion in tax revenue, also a record, over the same period, according to an undisclosed source.

    Last week, authorities in Hong Kong said they were considering a further increase in tobacco duty.

    Last year’s total number of cigarettes seized was lower than the 732 million impounded in 2022, although the value was higher. Last year’s record seizure coincided with a 31 percent tobacco tax increase in February, which raised the average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes by HK$12 to more than HK$70.

    A pack on the black market costs HK$18 to HK$38.

    The source said the confiscated tobacco products were stored in government warehouses currently, pending court proceedings or further investigations before being destroyed and buried at landfill sites.

    He added customs officials would boost efforts to combat crime syndicates that tried to take advantage of busy logistics services in the run-up to the Lunar New Year to smuggle cigarettes into the city.

  • Hong Kong Mulls Higher Tobacco Tax

    Hong Kong Mulls Higher Tobacco Tax

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Authorities in Hong Kong are considering a further increase in tobacco duty, reports South China Morning Post, citing the city’s health minister.  

    Lo Chung-mau, secretary for health, did not confirm whether the measure would be included in Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget next month. Tobacco taxes were previously increased in February 2023 by HKD0.60 ($0.07) per cigarette. A pack of 20 cigarettes now costs around HKD78.

    “Data from the World Health Organization and the global experience proves that an increase in tobacco tax is one of the most effective methods [to reduce smoking]. We will definitely consider it,” Lo said.

    Following last year’s tax increase, calls to the government’s smoking cessation hotline increased threefold to fourfold, showing that the move was effective to encourage people to quit smoking, according to Lo. The current smoking rate is 9.5 percent, and authorities hope to cut that down to 7.8 percent by next year.

    Currently, tobacco duty accounts for 64 percent of cigarette retail price in Hong Kong. The World Health Organization recommends 75 percent.

    The government is currently analyzing data from a public consultation on its tobacco control plans. Lo stated that the government aims to deliver short-term and long-term strategies.  

  • Hong Kong Solicits Feedback on Anti-Smoking Measures

    Hong Kong Solicits Feedback on Anti-Smoking Measures

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Hong Kong health authorities have asked city residents for feedback on several anti-smoking measures, including a generational tobacco ban, reports the South China Morning Post.

    The public consultation, which began July 12 and is expected to end Sept. 30, covers four strategies: regulating supply and suppressing demand; banning promotion and reducing attractiveness; expanding nonsmoking areas and mitigating harm; and enhancing education and supporting those quitting smoking, according to Health Minister Lo Chung-mau.

    “To protect our next generation from the harms of tobacco and to ensure the sustainability of our healthcare system, we need to draft strategies that keep up with the times,” Lo told a press briefing. “As a doctor, I don’t want our next generation to suffer from the harms of smoking and secondhand smoke.”

    There were 17 possible measures included in the questionnaire for the consultation, including whether Hong Kong should “prohibit the sale of tobacco products to persons born after a certain date.”

    Other questions include whether increasing the tobacco tax to 75 percent of the package price should be done rapidly or gradually every year and if a further ban on possessing e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products is necessary. A ban on importing, promoting, manufacturing and selling e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products was implemented last year.

    In its consultation, the government excluded more aggressive measures, such as requiring shops to get a license to sell tobacco, penalizing third parties who give or sell cigarettes to under-18s, labeling tobacco products imported legally and requiring smokers to use a government app to show their ages when buying goods to verify their eligibility.