The Government published the Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2025 in the Gazette today (April 25) to make amendments to the existing legislation for the implementation of the new phase of tobacco control measures. The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council (LegCo) for first and second readings on April 30.

     The Health Bureau (HHB) announced the overall tobacco control strategy in June last year, setting out the directions under the strategy and short, medium and long-term measures to reduce the social hazards posed by smoking products and safeguard public health. These measures are formulated around four directions under the tobacco control strategy, namely, Regulate Supply, Suppress Demand: reducing the demand for and supply of smoking products; Ban Promotion, Reduce Attractiveness: minimising the attractiveness of smoking products; Expand No Smoking Areas, Mitigate Harm: protecting the public from the hazard of second-hand smoke; and Enhance education, Support Cessation: strengthening the provision of smoking cessation services, with a view to taking forward the tobacco control process in a multipronged and progressive approach. Among the 10 short-term tobacco control measures announced, eight of them require legislative amendments.  

     The Bill seeks to amend Ordinances including the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371), the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (Cap. 109) and the Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) Ordinance (Cap. 600) to provide a legal basis for the implementation of the eight short-term measures as follows:

(1) Implement a duty stamp system for cigarettes

• Require importers/local manufacturers to ensure that each package of duty-paid cigarettes is affixed with a duty stamp when put on the market for sale 
• Ban the sale or supply of cigarettes whose packages are not affixed with a duty stamp
• Require that cigarettes sold at a price lower than the tobacco duty be proved to be duty-paid 
• Plan to roll out a pilot scheme in the third quarter of 2025
• The official launch date will be separately specified. The transitional phase is planned to commence in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the full implementation is targeted for the second quarter of 2027. 

(2) Increase penalties for duty-not-paid tobacco 

• Raise the maximum penalty for relevant offences from a $1 million fine and two-year imprisonment to a $2 million fine and seven-year imprisonment
• List the relevant offences under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 455) to enable the Customs and Excise Department to freeze assets associated with illicit tobacco activities
• Increase the penalty for offences of failing to declare to Customs Officers compoundable under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance from $2,000 to $5,000 
• Plan to take immediate effect upon gazettal of the amended Ordinance

(3) Prohibit the possession of alternative smoking products (ASPs) 

• Ban the possession of ASP substances (i.e. capsules, heat sticks and herbal cigarettes) in public places
• Smoking or using ASP in public places will be considered possession and a contravention of the requirement
• Introduce a fixed penalty of $3,000 for incompliant cases involving possession of small quantities of ASP substances for non-commercial purposes
• Plan to take effect on April 30, 2026

(4) Implement plain packaging requirement 

• Require that the packaging of conventional smoking products be uniformly designed, restricting or prohibiting the display of any logos, colours, brand images or promotional information on the packaging other than brand names and product names displayed in standard colour and font style, thereby dampening promotion effects 
• The official launch date will be separately specified. It is targeted to take effect in tandem with the duty stamp system in the second quarter of 2027

(5) Prohibit smoking while queuing 
     1. Prohibit smoking while queuing for public transport

• Prohibit doing a smoking act while queuing in a line of two or more persons to board a public transport carrier (such as queuing for buses, minibuses, taxis and trams) at a designated boarding location
• Prohibit smoking while staying in the delineated area of a designated boarding location (such as areas underneath bus shelters or inside areas where queuing positions are clearly indicated at ground level)

     2. Prohibit smoking while queuing to enter specified places  

• Specified places include areas with high pedestrian flow, where queues may easily form, such as hospitals, designated clinics or health centres, public pleasure grounds, swimming pools and stadiums.
• Prohibit smoking while queuing in a line of two or more persons to enter specified places, or queuing within the specified places.  

     3. Any person who contravenes the ban is liable to a fixed penalty, and the penalty level is on par with illegal smoking in a statutory no-smoking area (NSA)

• Plan to take effect on January 1, 2026

(6) Extend statutory NSAs  

• Expand statutory NSAs to public areas that lie within 3 metres from entrances/exits exclusively used for the specified premises (i.e. child care centres, residential care homes, schools, hospitals and designated clinics or health centres)
• Empower the Secretary for Health to designate a large area as NSAs with specifications and exemptions having regard to circumstances in districts and actual needs.
• Raise the fixed penalty level for smoking offences to $3,000
• Plan to take effect on January 1, 2026

(7) Prohibit the provision of smoking products to persons aged below 18 

• Cases involving the provision of small quantities of conventional smoking products will be liable to a fixed penalty of $3,000, while cases exceeding the specified quantities will be liable to a maximum fine of $25,000 
• Provision of ASPs will be liable to a maximum penalty of a fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment. 
• Plan to take effect on January 1, 2026

(8) Ban flavoured conventional smoking products

• Prohibit the sale of conventional smoking products that contain specified additives to counteract the intention of tobacco companies to use flavourings to disguise the toxicity of conventional smoking products and attract young people to smoke
• Ban conventional smoking products containing specified additives other than menthol in the first stage
• Introduce a Certification regime, requiring that suppliers needs to obtain a "certificate of compliance" issued by the Director of Health for distributing conventional smoking products.
• Maximum penalty of relevant offences will be a fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment 
• The official launch date will be separately specified. It is targeted to officially commence after the full implementation of the duty stamp system (i.e. around the second quarter of 2027)

     The other two short-term measures, namely "continuously reviewing the effectiveness of increasing tobacco duty and the pace of future adjustments" and "strengthening smoking cessation services as well as publicity and education", are ongoing and do not involve legislative amendments. 

     A spokesman for the HHB said, "The Government is committed to further reducing Hong Kong's smoking prevalence and mitigating the impact of second-hand smoke on the public through various measures in a progressive manner, thereby safeguarding public health. To further alleviate the threat posed by tobacco to public health, the Government needs to put in place more proactive measures to curb tobacco use and minimise its harmful effects on society. After factors such as the effectiveness, practicability and public receptiveness of these measures were weighed, the HHB put forward these measures last year and has further refined the details of the proposed legislative amendments after considering the views of various stakeholders in the community."

     According to figures of the Census and Statistics Department, the proportion of persons aged 15 and above with a daily smoking habit of conventional cigarettes in Hong Kong was 9.1 per cent in 2023, meaning there are still about 580 000 people in Hong Kong who are daily smokers of conventional cigarettes.  

     A spokesman for the HHB said, "The various smoking-induced diseases among smokers will pose a heavy burden on the healthcare system and society as a whole. A local study revealed that the economic loss resulting from tobacco-induced health problems in 2021 was estimated to be about $8.2 billion per year in Hong Kong. The Government will fully work with the LegCo to scrutinise the Bill, with a view to seeking the LegCo's support and passage of the Bill, thereby building a legal framework to curb smoking hazards and stepping towards a 'tobacco-free Hong Kong' through concerted efforts."

Ends/Friday, April 25, 2025
Issued at HKT 20:50

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