Tobacco Control Legislation in Hong Kong

Regulation on Sale of Tobacco Products

1. Parts III and IVA of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371) requires that no person shall sell any cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, or cigarette tobacco which contravenes the Ordinance.
2. Regulation of Sales of Tobacco Products
   Part III of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance requires that no person shall sell any cigarettes unless they are in a packet of at least 20 sticks and the packet and retail container must bear a health warning, the tar and nicotine yields in the prescribed form and manner. Furthermore, no person shall sell any cigar, pipe tobacco, or cigarette tobacco unless the retail container bears a health warning in the prescribed form and manner.
3. Sections 8A and 8B of Part III of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371) also requires that
   1. no person shall sell or possess for the purposes of sale any cigarette containing an amount of tar exceeding 17 milligrams;
   2. no person shall sell any tobacco product from a vending machine.

   Health Warning on Cigarette Packet and Retail Container

4. Section 8 of Part III of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371) requires that cigarette packets and retail containers shall bear a health warning and tar and nicotine yields in the prescribed form and manner.
5. A brief description of the specifications of pictorial and graphic contents of the health warning on cigarette packet and retail container is as follows:
   1. The health warning and the tar and nicotine yields shall appear on the 2 largest surfaces of the packet and retail container. One of these surfaces shall bear the Chinese version of the health warning and tar and nicotine yields while the other surface shall bear the English version of the same health warning and tar and nicotine yields. The top side of the area containing the Chinese or English version of the health warning and tar and nicotine yields shall be no more than 12 millimetres from the top of the surface on which that version appears;
   2. The area on the packet or retail container containing the health warning shall be rectangular in shape and surrounded by a black line as demarcation and its size shall be at least 50% of the surface area on which the version is displayed;
   3. The form of the health warning shall be divided into 3 rectangular areas. The areas shall contain the graphic, message, and an indication of tar and nicotine yields as set out in the form. The ratio of the length of the 3 areas shall be 9 to 2 to 1;
   4. The English version of the health warning message includes “HKSAR Government Warning” and one of the followings: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer”, “Smoking Kills”, “Smoking Harms Your Family”, “Smoking Causes Peripheral Vascular Diseases”, “Smoking May Cause Impotence”, “Smoking Can Accelerate Ageing of Skin”;
   5. No health warning and tar and nicotine yields shall appear in such a manner that they are obscured by any affixture to the retail container, the wrapping of the retail container, or any affixture to the wrapping of the retail container.

                        

                        

   Health Warning on Retail Container of Any Cigar, Pipe Tobacco, or Cigarette Tobacco (Other Than Retail Container Containing One Cigar)

6. Section 9 of Part III of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance requires that no person shall sell any cigar, pipe tobacco, or cigarette tobacco unless the retail container bears a health warning in the prescribed form and manner.
7. A brief description of the specifications of pictorial and graphic contents of the health warning on retail container of any cigar, pipe tobacco, or cigarette tobacco is as follows:
   1. The health warning shall appear on the 2 largest surfaces of the retail container. One of these surfaces shall bear the Chinese version of the health warning and the other surface shall bear the English version of the same health warning;
   2. The area on the retail container containing the health warning shall be rectangular in shape and surrounded by a black line as demarcation and its size shall be at least 50% of the surface area on which the version is displayed;
   3. The form of the health warning shall be divided into 2 rectangular areas. The areas shall contain the graphic and message. The ratio of the length of the 2 areas shall be 3 to 1;
   4. The English version of the health warning message includes HKSAR Government Warning and one of the following: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Smoking Kills, Smoking Harms Your Family, Smoking Causes Peripheral Vascular Diseases, Smoking May Cause Impotence, Smoking Can Accelerate Ageing of Skin;
   5. No health warning shall appear in such a manner that it is obscured by any affixture to the retail container or any affixture to the wrapping of the retail container.

        

        

8. Section 9 of Part III of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance requires that no person shall sell any cigar, pipe tobacco, or cigarette tobacco unless the retail container bears a health warning in the prescribed form and manner.
9. A brief description of the specifications of pictorial and graphic contents of the health warning on retail container containing one cigar is as follows:
   1. The Chinese and English versions of the health warning shall appear on the largest surfaces of the retail container;
   2. The area on the retail container containing the health warning shall be rectangular in shape and surrounded by a black line as demarcation. The width and the length of the area shall be 7 centimetres and 3 centimetres respectively;
   3. The form of the health warning shall be divided into 2 rectangular areas. The areas shall contain the graphic and message. The lengths of the 2 areas shall be 2.25 centimetres and 0.75 centimetres respectively;
   4. The English version of the health warning message includes “HKSAR Government Warning” and one of the followings: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer”, “Smoking Kills”, “Smoking Harms Your Family”, “Smoking Causes Peripheral Vascular Diseases”, “Smoking May Cause Impotence”, “Smoking Can Accelerate Ageing of Skin”;
   5. No health warning shall appear in such a manner that it is obscured by any affixture to the retail container or any affixture to the wrapping of the retail container.

        

        

10. Any person who contravenes any regulation from Item 2 to 9 above commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000.
11. Furthermore, the amended Ordinance stipulates that health warning on packet and retail container of tobacco products shall contain pictorial and graphic contents. The commencement date shall be the first anniversary of the day on which the Ordinance is published in the Gazette, i.e., 27 October 2007.
12. In order to facilitate the industry to understand the Ordinance concerning the requirement on pictorial and graphic health warning on packet and retail container of tobacco products, we have produced the related guidelines and a DVD-ROM which contains the forms of health warnings for reference purpose. If you are interested to obtain the related guidelines and the DVD-ROM, please apply through the health education materials application form.

    Price Marker and Price Board of Tobacco Products

13. Section 14 of Part IV of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371) requires that when any person sells tobacco products and displays a price marker or price board for tobacco products at his/her premises, the price marker or price board shall comply with the following requirements of the Ordinance:
    1. Price marker for one type of tobacco product contains only the name and price of that type of tobacco product and is of a size not greater than the size of the price marker of any of the non-tobacco products sold in the premises and not greater than 50 square centimetres;
    2. There is only one price board for tobacco products at the premises. The price board lists only the names and prices of tobacco products and the size shall not be greater than 1,500 square centimetres. The size of the name and price of each type of tobacco product shall not be greater than 50 square centimetres. The price board shall bear a health warning in the prescribed form and manner.
14. A brief description of the health warning on the price board is as follows:
    1. The health warning shall be of a size that covers not less than 20% of the area of the price board;
    2. The health warning shall be rectangular in shape and surrounded by a black line as demarcation and the background colour is white. The message shall include both Chinese and English versions and shall be printed in black colour;
    3. The English version of the health warning message includes HKSAR Government Health Warning and Smoking Kills;
    4. The words “HKSAR Government Warning” and related Chinese characters shall be printed in 30 points and in Univers Bold typeface, all capitals, and in 30 kyu and in “華康中黑體” typeface;
    5. The words “Smoking Kills” and related Chinese characters shall be printed in 90 points and in Univers Bold typeface, all capitals, and in 90 kyu and in “華康中黑體” typeface.
15. As for cigar retailers, in the case of a shop in which nothing except cigars and cigar accessories are offered for sale, 3 sets of catalogues, each listing only the names and prices of the cigars offered for sale in the shop, can be placed.
16. Any person who contravenes any of the above regulation commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further penalty of $1,500 for each day during which the offence continues.

    Prohibition on Selling or Giving of Tobacco Products

17. Section 15A of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance requires that no person shall sell any tobacco product to any person under the age of 18 years and no person shall, for the purposes of promotion or advertisement, give any tobacco product to any person.
18. The Ordinance also requires that any person offering for sale of tobacco products shall place in a prominent position at his premises a sign in English and Chinese to indicate that no tobacco product may be sold to any person under the age of 18 years or given to any person. The prescribed format of the sign shall
    1. be rectangular in shape with sides of at least 38 centimetres in length and 20 centimetres in width; and
    2. read in Chinese and English as follows: “BY ORDER OF HKSAR GOVERNMENT: NO TOBACCO PRODUCT SHALL BE SOLD TO PERSON UNDER 18 OR GIVEN FOR PROMOTION TO ANY PERSON”.
19. Furthermore, the Ordinance also requires that
    1. no person shall sell, offer for sale or give a tobacco product to any person in exchange for a token;
    2. no person shall give to any person a tobacco product as a prize in any event or competition;
    3. no person shall give valuable consideration to any individual in order to induce him to buy a particular tobacco product or otherwise to promote to him that tobacco product;
    4. no person shall sell, offer for sale, or possess for the purposes of sale a tobacco product which includes or is accompanied by a gift;
    5. no person shall sell, offer for sale, or possess for the purposes of sale a tobacco product which includes or is accompanied by a token, stamp, or raffle ticket;
    6. no person shall sell, offer for sale, or possess for the purposes of sale a non-tobacco product which includes or is accompanied by a tobacco product as a gift;
    7. no person shall sell, offer for sale, or possess for the purposes of sale a tobacco product and a non-tobacco product as a single item;
    8. no person shall give to any person any object which contains the name or trade name of any person associated with the marketing of tobacco products, and which is intended to be shown in public; or
    9. no person shall give to any person any object which contains any trade mark or brand name of a tobacco product or any pictorial device or part thereof commonly associated therewith, and which is intended to be shown in public.
20. Any person who contravenes any of the above regulation commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a maximum fine of $25,000.