Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ3: Implementation of statutory smoking prohibition
Following is a question by the Hon Martin Lee and a reply by the Secretary for
Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June
6):
Question:
The provisions of the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2006
("Amendment Ordinance") relating to no-smoking areas have come into operation
since January 1 this year. Regarding the relevant enforcement efforts, will the
Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of complaints received by the Tobacco Control Office ("TCO")
of the Department of Health about the violation of the above provisions since
their coming into operation, the approximate response time taken by TCO, after
receiving a complaint, to conduct an inspection at the scene, the number of
inspections conducted by TCO in response to complaints and the number of
prosecutions instituted as a result;
(b) given that a member of the public was earlier assaulted and injured as he
attempted to stop customers from smoking illegally in a restaurant, of the
initiatives and supporting measures taken by the Government to prevent the
recurrence of similar incidents, as well as to resolve the problem of the public
not daring to lodge complaints or stop others from smoking illegally for fear of
being treated with violence; and
(c) given that the Amendment Ordinance does not stipulate that managers of
no-smoking premises shall be liable for failure to stop smoking in their
premises, of the measures taken by the Government to ensure that such managers
will do their best to facilitate the effective implementation of the
anti-smoking provisions in the relevant premises?
Reply:
Madam President,
Before replying to each part of the question, I would like to take this
opportunity to express my gratitude to Members of this Council again for passing
the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2006 (Amendment Ordinance)
last October, which allowed the public to enjoy a larger smoke-free environment
and enabled our tobacco control efforts to make a major step forward.
It has been our strategy to impose tobacco control through a wide range of
complementary measures including legislation, law enforcement, taxation,
publicity and education. Expansion of no-smoking areas through legislation is
one of the major tobacco control measures. While enforcement of legislation is
important to ensure that no-smoking areas are smoke-free, it would simply not be
possible to attain the target solely by law enforcement in the absence of a
supportive social culture in the community at large. As we stated when the
Amendment Ordinance was introduced, the Administration would push ahead with the
smoking ban through a strategy involving a mix of publicity and education on one
hand, and enforcement and prosecution on the other, which are all prerequisites
for attaining the target.
On the publicity and education front, the Administration and the Hong Kong
Council on Smoking and Health have launched a series of media and publicity
campaigns, with focuses on building support for the smoking ban, promoting
public awareness of the statutory smoking prohibition and the extent of
statutory no smoking areas, soliciting the cooperation of the relevant
industries in managing their premises to achieve a smoke-free environment,
appealing to the self-discipline of individuals and consideration for the health
of others to promote voluntary compliance by smokers and encouraging smokers to
quit. By and large, the publicity and education efforts have had prominent
effects. A large proportion of members of the public and the relevant industries
have been compliant with the new law since January 1, 2007. I believe that
inculcating a social culture that respects the statutory smoking prohibition and
exerts public pressure remains the key to effective and smooth implementation of
the smoking prohibition. These efforts would continue in the months to come.
In respect of enforcement and prosecution, the Administration's main strategies
are to make unannounced inspections and targeted enforcement, especially against
black-spots identified on the basis of complaints submitted, for the purpose of
creating deterrent effect and targeting significant violation of the smoking
prohibition. As smoking usually lasts for only a few minutes, it is
impracticable and unrealistic for inspectors, no matter how large their
establishment is, to enforce the law by rushing to any statutory no smoking area
within minutes upon receipt of complaint for enforcement or to conduct
tremendously exhaustive enforcement actions. Neither would this be a
cost-effective way to utilise public resources.
In fact, the imposition of a smoking ban is no more than a stopgap measure. To
tackle the problem at its roots, the solution lies in reducing the number of
smokers. Some people are able to quit smoking on their own, but for those who
need assistance, smoking cessation services are now made available by the
Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority (HA). In the past five
months, the number of people calling the DH's smoking cessation hotline has
increased twofold as compared with the same period last year. I am also glad to
see that family doctors and pharmacists working in the community have joined us
in the provision of smoking cessation services as well. We hope that the trend
will continue.
My replies to each part of the question are as follows:
(a) Between January 1, 2007 and May 20, 2007, the Tobacco Control Office (TCO)
has received over 8 000 complaints about smoking offences in statutory no
smoking areas (though some of these are repetitive).
Since January 1, 2007, TCO has undertaken over 4 000 unannounced inspections to
shopping malls, restaurants and other statutory no smoking areas, including
inspections conducted on the basis of complaints received, patrols made during
special events such as flower fairs at Lunar New Year's time and football
matches, and has also taken targeted enforcement actions in places of black-spot
identified through complaints.
During the period from January 1 to May 27, 2007, TCO has arranged to issue a
total of 660 summonses for smoking offences. Meanwhile, during the period
between January 1, 2007 and March 31, 2007, the police also issued a total of
477 summonses to smoking offenders. Normally, upon receipt of a complaint, the
TCO will contact the complainant as soon as possible to understand the
situation, and conduct inspections and enforcement at the premises under
complaint as appropriate.
(b) We note that in the five months since implementation of the new smoking
prohibition, in absolute majority of the cases, smokers would respect other
people and would stop smoking once advised to do so. If a member of the public
finds out that someone is smoking in a statutory no smoking area, he could bring
the matter to the attention of the venue managers for follow-up actions and let
them remind smokers of the imposition of the smoking ban. The law has also
empowered venue managers to request smokers who smoke in statutory no smoking
areas to stop smoking or to leave the no smoking area. If necessary, venue
managers can also call for the assistance of the police.
(c) To date, implementation of the statutory smoking ban has been generally
smooth and successful with the active cooperation and collaboration of venue
managers, for instance, to clearly demarcate the extent of statutory no smoking
areas, to make smoking signs conspicuous on the premises to customers and users,
to draw smokers' attention to the statutory smoking prohibition and to exercise
their powers conferred by the law to stop smoking within the statutory no
smoking area where necessary.
In order to assist the managers in the effective management of their no-smoking
areas, TCO has since October 2006 conducted more than 100 capacity building
workshops for venue mangers of various sectors, both public and private,
attracting more than 5 000 participants. Guidelines specifically catering for
the needs of venue managers were also published by the TCO and distributed to
venue managers.
Over the past five months, venue managers of most premises under a smoking ban
have collaborated actively with the Government to implement the smoking
prohibition. Quite a few venues have also indicated that their business returns
have gone up because of the ban. I am convinced that appealing to the public and
the industries for collaboration remains an effective strategy in the
implementation of the statutory smoking prohibition. Liaison with the industries
will be maintained as appropriate.
I wish to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to the general
public for their support, cooperation and comments on the statutory smoking
prohibition in the past months. As in the past, we will continue our publicity
and promotion efforts and enforce the smoking ban effectively according to our
strategy so as to substantially reduce the harm of secondhand smoke.
Ends/Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:11
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