Hong Kong urged to go further with anti-smoking measures, ban vaping devices

A school association and a member of Hong Kong’s largest political party have urged the government to go further in its anti-smoking measures, including by banning vaping devices and outlawing “smoking while walking”, after lawmakers passed a controversial tobacco control bill.

Their comments came on Friday, a day after the Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Bill was passed by lawmakers following its second and third readings, as the government sought to further lower Hong Kong’s smoking rate, currently at 9.1 per cent.

The bill covered eight of 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.

But he urged further deterrence measures, including a ban on vaping devices.