2 Hong Kong lawmakers seek delay, partial lifting of tobacco control measures
Liberal Party lawmakers Michael Lee and Peter Shiu are pushing to lift ban on flavoured cigarettes and apply ‘positive vetting’ process
Two Hong Kong lawmakers representing the business sector have made a last-ditch effort to delay and partially lift the implementation of the government’s tobacco control measures by moving amendments to a bill set to be discussed on Wednesday at the earliest.
The amendments by lawmakers Michael Lee Chun-keung and Peter Shiu Ka-fai, both from the pro-business Liberal Party, included a call for the government to lift a proposed ban on selling flavoured conventional smoking products.
They also suggested the government apply the proposed tobacco control measures through “positive vetting”, a process in which lawmakers review changes before their implementation rather than afterwards.
At the centre of contention are the 10 measures outlined in the Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Bill, which is scheduled to be moved for second and third reading on Wednesday at the earliest as the legislature returns from its summer recess.
The bill included plans to make it illegal for people to possess or use alternative smoking products in public by April 30 of next year and ban the sale of conventional smoking products with flavours other than menthol from the second quarter of 2027.
While the government said the proposal was aimed at further reducing the smoking rate, some lawmakers had earlier argued that certain measures, particularly those concerning alternative and flavoured tobacco products, could harm the economy by discouraging tourism.