UN agency warns loopholes put China’s health at risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday alerted Chinese lawmakers of loopholes in the draft of the country's nationwide smoke-free Law ahead of Tuesday's World No Tobacco Day.

"A range of very problematic loopholes in the draft national smoke-free law have now appeared - for example, which would allow smoking in individual offices. Exempting leaders in single offices would introduce a culture of privileges, putting the health of others at risk," WHO Representative in China Bernhard Schwartländer said Monday at a Beijing forum on global smoking control and anti-smoking legislation.

In March, China's State Council vowed to complete the smoking-control legislation by the end of this year. Public opinions on drafted national regulations to curb smoking in public places were first solicited in November 2014.

However, experts told the Global Times that the latest draft, which has not been published yet, has some loopholes which are "disappointing" and "incomprehensible."

The new draft removed a requirement to print warnings on tobacco product packages, "one of the most effective methods to deter people from smoking," Xu Guihua, a senior consultant with the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, told the Global Times on Monday.

Earlier this month, the UK became the second country to introduce plain, standardized tobacco packaging, which Xu said would greatly contribute to a drop in cigarette sales.

Xu noted that a similar policy would discourage many Chinese people from continuing to buy tobacco products as gifts for superiors and friends.

As the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco products, China has about 315 million smokers, and 28 percent of the country's adults are regular smokers, according to the WHO.

Separately, Zhang Jianshu, head of the Beijing Association on Tobacco Control, pointed out that the latest draft would allow smoking areas to be set up in indoor public places, warning that the change will raise enforcement costs and will make the regulations less feasible.

Zhang said that the smoke-free regulations Beijing instituted in June 2015 proved that it is practicable to completely ban smoking in indoor public spaces and workplaces.

"A weak national smoke-free law would be inconsistent with China's international legal obligations as a party to the WHO FCTC, and it would fail to protect China's people from exposure to second-hand smoke, at a very [high] cost for both individuals and the economy. We call on lawmakers to resist any attempts to water down the national smoke-free law. On World No Tobacco Day, we owe this to the people of China whose health it is our job to protect," Dr Schwartländer said.

According to the WHO, over 1 million people die from tobacco-related illness in China every year, and over 700 million Chinese people are routinely exposed to second-hand smoke, which kills approximately 100,000 people every year.