Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ10: Enforcement action for selling tobacco products to persons under 18
Following is a question by the Hon Leung Yiu-chung and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(January 9):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) in the past two years, of the number of prosecutions instituted by the
authorities against the offence of selling tobacco products to persons under the
age of 18, and the number of inspections conducted by the Tobacco Control Office
(TCO) of the Health Department to combat such an offence; how such figures
compare with those of the previous two years; if the relevant figures are
different, of the reasons for that; and
(b) whether it will consider increasing the manpower of TCO in order to step up
the efforts to combat the above offence; if it will, of the details; if not, the
reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
My reply to the question raised by Hon Leung Yiu-chung is as follows:
(a) Since October, 2006, Tobacco Control Inspectors (TCI) of the Tobacco Control
Office (TCO) under the Department of Health (DH) have been conferred the power
to take law enforcement action for offences under the Smoking (Public Health)
Ordinance (Ordinance), (except Part III) including Section 15A(1), i.e. no
person shall sell any cigarette, cigarette tobacco, cigar or pipe tobacco to any
person under the age of 18 years. A person who contravenes this provision
commits an offence and is liable on a summary conviction to a fine at level 4
(i.e. $25,000).
Apart from routine inspections at tobacco retail outlets, the TCO will also
launch thorough investigation and take relevant enforcement action upon reports
made by members of the public. If it is found that a tobacco retail outlet has
sold tobacco products to minors or if there is a breach of any provision of the
Ordinance, the TCIs will institute a prosecution by way of summons.
Before being conferred the power to take enforcement action for offences under
the Ordinance, staff of the TCO conducted a total of 49 inspections in 2006, and
in collaboration with the Police, prosecution by way of summons was instituted
in two cases involving the sale of cigarettes to persons under the age of 18
years. In these two cases, the offenders were fined $800 and $400 respectively.
In 2007, the TCIs conducted 64 inspections and issued two summonses to offending
tobacco retailers. One case was heard by the Court on September 13, 2007 and the
offender was fined for $1,000. Hearing of the other case is pending.
(b) The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has adopted a
step-by-step approach to contain the extensive use of tobacco and reduce as much
as possible the impact of passive smoking on the public through a wide range of
measures, including legislation, taxation, publicity, education and law
enforcement.
Publicity and education focuses on promoting public awareness of the statutory
smoking prohibition and the extent of statutory no smoking areas under the
Ordinance, soliciting the co-operation of the relevant industries in managing
their premises to achieve a smoke-free environment, and making appeal to the
self-discipline of individuals and consideration for the health of others to
promote voluntary compliance by smokers. Nurturing a social culture that
respects the statutory smoking prohibition and exerts public pressure for
compliance with the prohibition remains the key to effective and smooth
implementation of the smoking prohibition.
Since the passage of the amendment to the Ordinance in October, 2006, the TCO
and the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (the Council) have launched a
series of media and publicity programmes with a view to building support for the
smoking ban, promoting public awareness of the new legislative provisions, in
particular the statutory smoking prohibition and the extent of statutory no
smoking areas, and encouraging smokers to quit. More than 1.7 million copies of
educational material such as smoking signs and posters have been distributed by
the TCO. Work on this front will continue and will be further strengthened.
Different strategies and approaches have been used for publicity and promotion
targeting different age groups to disseminate the message of smoking
prohibition. With regard to publicity and education for young people, the TCO
has specifically produced for schools guidelines and display boards for
implementing tobacco control measures at schools as well as promotional leaflets
targeting at teenagers.
In 2007, the Council continued to organise various school health education
programmes. In addition to 130 health talks conducted in secondary and primary
schools, the Council also arranged a tour of an interactive education drama in
48 primary schools. The Council also collaborated with the Radio Television Hong
Kong in organising a "Teen Power x COSH T-shirt Design Competition" and a "Voice
Your Support to a Smoke-Free Hong Kong Campaign" to stimulate young people's
concern about the problems of smoking and passive smoking.
In regard to legislation, apart from amusement game centres, statutory no
smoking areas have been expanded since January, 2007 to cover places where young
people frequently visit, including all schools, tertiary institutes and
universities. Most public pleasure grounds and other indoor public areas have
been designated as statutory no smoking areas as well.
As mentioned above, the current duties of the TCIs include taking follow-up
action on complaints about illegal sale of tobacco products to persons under the
age of 18 years and enforcement of the relevant legislation. The number of TCIs
has been substantially increased from some 30 in 2006-07 to more than 70 to
date. The manpower and work arrangement of the TCO will be further reviewed from
time to time to ensure that actual needs are met.
We strongly believe that to prevent young people from smoking, parallel efforts
in education and law enforcement are essential. The Government will continue to
promote a no smoking culture among our young people through publicity, education
and effective law enforcement and prevent them from acquiring the smoking habit
as far as possible.
Ends/Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:46
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