Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog Rotating Header Image

May 3rd, 2012:

Anti-smoking law may dispense with warnings

By Zheng Caixiong (China Daily)

People who light up in non-smoking areas in Guangzhou may soon be slapped with a fine without warning.

The current law in the Guangdong provincial capital requires enforcement officers to provide a warning before fining someone 50 yuan ($8) for smoking in indoor workplaces and other public areas.

So far this year, officers in the city have received more than 1,200 complaints for smoking in public places, with 84 percent occurring in restaurants and entertainment venues such as nightclubs and karaoke bars.

But only one smoker has been fined so far this year, according to enforcement officials.

Guangzhou People’s Congress is now seeking public opinions for a draft amendment that would drop the requirement for a warning before a fine. The public can visit the legislature’s website to see the full text of the draft and email, fax or write to the legislature to air their opinions before May 15.

After hearing from the public, the legislature will update the draft and put it to a vote at next month’s legislative session.

An official from the Guangzhou enforcement bureau, who would not be named as he is not allowed to receive media interviews without official authorization, admitted that the bureau lacks manpower to enforce the regulation.

“And law enforcers usually find it difficult to collect evidences to fine the smokers,” the official said on Thursday.

But he said the bureau plans to work with relevant departments to handle the issue in the following months.

Many local residents welcome the revised anti-smoking regulation, but fear it will be ineffective.

Chen Wenjie, a Guangzhou office worker, said the draft is an improvement.

“But a fine of only 50 yuan for smokers is still not severe enough to deter law breakers,” he said.

Wang Fangwei, a local housewife, said the draft amendment is good, but she does not think it could be fully carried out.

“Many law enforcement agencies in the city are lax on punishment in fighting illegal smoking,” she said.

Also, by the time enforcement authorities arrive, the smokers might have stopped because it takes only two to three minutes to finish a cigarette, she added.

She called for more concrete and effective measures, such as fining the operators of restaurants instead of smokers.

However, many restaurant and bar managers and bosses are opposed to the proposed smoking ban.

“The smoking ban and the fine to the smokers would certainly affect the restaurant’s business,” said Zheng Canrong, a restaurant manager in Guangzhou’s Yuexiu district.

According to statistics from the Guangzhou Tobacco Control Association, Guangzhou is estimated to have more than 2 million smokers, representing 18 percent of the city’s population.

That figure has been on the rise in recent years.

Copyright By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved

Higher tobacco taxes ‘could save lives’

http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/higher-tobacco-taxes-could-save-lives/

By Martin Banks – 3rd May 2012


Reliable scientific data is essential

Patricia Reilly

An international group of health economists and tobacco control experts have demanded a “radical increase” in the taxation of all tobacco products.

Speaking at a Brussels conference, they said this was the “most effective” way to make them inaccessible to European consumers.

The demand is one of a series of 15 policy recommendations addressed to the commission and member states by the Pricing Policies and Control of Tobacco in Europe (PPACTE) consortium.
They were unveiled at an event at the permanent representation of Ireland to the EU which brought together council officials, commission representatives and MEPs as well as the tobacco control community.
They also recommend that there be “full alignment” of tax rates so that fine-cut tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes is taxed at the same rate as manufactured cigarettes.
Other recommendations include banning the sale of cigarettes below cost and low-price-based marketing.
The recommendations are timed to coincide with the on-going review of the EU tobacco products directive.

Luke Clancy, director general of the Tobacco Free Research Institute and coordinator of the PPACTE consortium, was among the speakers.

He said, “Through the research surveys that we have conducted, we found that there is a high level of support from European citizens for substantial increases in tobacco taxes particularly if some of the revenue is used for the treatment of tobacco dependence.”

Further comment came from Patricia Reilly, a member of the cabinet of European commissioner for research, innovation and science, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.

He said, “I very much welcome the publication of this research project, which is funded under the commission’s seventh framework programme.

“Reliable scientific data is essential to underpinning effective policy-making, and I am confident that the data published today is a valuable addition to the resources available in this area.”

The project carried out research over a three-year period in order to produce evidence-based policy recommendations to improve market regulation of tobacco products to achieve more effective and equitable control of tobacco use in Europe.

The study concluded that future EU legislation could maximise the potential of taxation to improve tobacco control and thereby reduce deaths from tobacco.

At the launch, former European commissioner for health and consumers, David Byrne, highlighted the urgency of “tackling tobacco as key risk factor for many of the chronic diseases affecting European citizens and our healthcare systems”.

Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable premature death and disease, accounting for some 650,000 premature deaths each year in the EU.

Price and tax measures are recognised by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO) as important instruments for reducing tobacco use, while generating revenue for governments.

Push to price tobacco out of reach

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/push-to-price-tobacco-out-of-reach/story-fn59niix-1226346279703

HEALTH Department chief Jane Halton has vowed to keep putting up the price of tobacco so it becomes “very unaffordable” and has declared she is on a “global crusade”against the “appalling behaviour of big tobacco”.

Four days before the 2012-13 budget, the secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing appeared to be hinting a tobacco tax rise could be on the way as the government tries to bring the budget back to surplus.

“I’m going to keep putting the price up so it becomes very unaffordable, it is a deliberate part of the weaponry,” she said in a lecture to the University of Canberra’s Centre for Research and Action in Public Health.

Later a spokeswoman for Ms Halton said she was merely stating her department’s desire to use price hikes as one of a suite of measures to control tobacco use.

“There is no suggestion this is part of the budget,” the spokeswoman said.

Ms Halton also told the seminar that persuading former prime minister Kevin Rudd to adopt plain tobacco packaging was one of the easiest policy decisions she’d ever achieved.

Mr Rudd had agreed to encase cigarette packs in drab green packets and remove company logos as soon as the concept was explained to him.

Ms Halton said she had “felt like turning cartwheels around the orange sofas in his office, but decided it wouldn’t be dignified”.

The government is facing a High Court challenge over the plain packaging policy and is fighting other challenges to it through world trade bodies.

Ukraine has taken issue with Australia’s policy through the World Trade Organisation and Ms Halton joked that it was a “well-known trading partner” of Australia, which traded with us “about $37 million worth of, I suspect, vodka made out of potato and tractor parts, but probably not tobacco”.

Accusing tobacco companies of targeting children in developing countries, she lamented the upswing in smoking rates in countries such as India and China.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon had been accused of taking a nanny state approach to health policy in alcohol and tobacco control and Ms Halton revealed the former health minister felt herself that she was “Nanny Nicola out there delivering a wowser message” when she was promoting her tax on alcopops.

Ms Halton said she told the minister to keep battling because it was a good message.

why is HK tobacco taxation not linked to inflation like in the rest of the civilised world ?

Consumer Price Indices for March 2012 http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/press_release/press_releases_on_statistics/index.jsp?sID=2933&sSUBID=20572&displayMode=D
*************************************

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (April 23) the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for March 2012. According to the Composite CPI, overall consumer prices rose by 4.9% in March 2012 over the same month a year earlier, smaller than the average rate of increase in January and February 2012 (5.4%). Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI (i.e. the underlying inflation rate) in March 2012 was 5.6%, also smaller than the average rate of increase in January and February 2012 (6.1%), mainly due to the smaller increases in private housing rentals, the charges for package tours and the prices of cigarettes.

The year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI in March 2012 (4.9%) was larger than the corresponding increase in February 2012 (4.7%). Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI in March 2012 (5.6%) was also larger than that in February 2012 (5.4%). Nonetheless, the February inflation figure was affected by the difference in timing of the Lunar New Year in 2011 and 2012.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of increase in the Composite CPI for the 3-month period from January to March 2012 was 0.4%, the same as that for the 3-month period from December 2011 to February 2012. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the average monthly rate of increase in the Composite CPI for the 3-month period from January to March 2012 was 0.4%, the same as that for the 3-month period from December 2011 to February 2012.

Analysed by sub-index, the year-on-year rates of increase in the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were 4.3%, 5.2% and 5.1% respectively in March 2012, which compared to the average rates of increase of 4.8%, 5.6% and 5.6% respectively in January and February 2012, and 4.2%, 4.9% and 4.7% respectively in February. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rates of increase in the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were 5.6%, 5.8% and 5.4% respectively in March 2012, which compared to the average rates of increase of 5.9%, 6.2% and 5.9% respectively in January and February 2012, and 5.5%, 5.5% and 5.0% respectively in February.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, for the 3-month period from January to March 2012, the average monthly rates of increase in the seasonally adjusted CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were all 0.4%. The corresponding rates of increase for the 3-month period from December 2011 to February 2012 were 0.4%, 0.4% and 0.3%. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the corresponding average monthly rates of increase in the seasonally adjusted CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) for the 3-month period from January to March 2012 were 0.4%, 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, same as those rates of increase for the 3-month period ended February 2012.

Amongst the various CPI components, year-on-year increases in prices were recorded in March 2012 for food (excluding meals bought away from home) (9.4% in the Composite CPI and 9.9% in the CPI(A)); housing (7.9% in the Composite CPI and 6.6% in the CPI(A)); meals bought away from home (5.9% in the Composite CPI and 6.0% in the CPI(A)); transport (4.3% in the Composite CPI and 4.0% in the CPI(A)); clothing and footwear (4.0% in the Composite CPI and 3.8% in the CPI(A)); miscellaneous goods (3.5% in the Composite CPI and 3.3% in the CPI(A)); miscellaneous services (2.4% in the Composite CPI and 1.1% in the CPI(A)) and alcoholic drinks and tobacco (1.1% in the Composite CPI and 1.2% in the CPI(A)).

On the other hand, year-on-year decrease in prices were recorded in March 2012 for electricity, gas and water (-18.6% in the Composite CPI and -23.6% in the CPI(A), largely as a result of the Government’s electricity charge subsidy) and durable goods (-1.3% in the Composite CPI and -1.4% in the CPI(A)).

In the first quarter of 2012, the Composite CPI rose by 5.2% over a year earlier, while the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) rose by 4.6%, 5.5% and 5.4% respectively. The corresponding increases after netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures were 5.9%, 5.8%, 6.1% and 5.7% respectively.

For the 12 months ended March 2012, the Composite CPI was on average 5.6% higher than in the preceding 12-month period. The respective increases in the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were 5.7%, 5.6% and 5.5%. The corresponding increases after netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures were 5.8%, 5.9%, 5.9% and 5.7% respectively.

Commentary

A Government spokesman said that the year-on-year rate of underlying consumer price inflation receded further to 5.6% in March 2012, from the average of 6.1% in January and February combined. The latter figure is used for comparison because it avoided the distortions caused by the timing of the Lunar New Year. Slower year-on-year increases were seen across many major CPI components in March, reflecting a rather broad-based easing in price pressures.

The spokesman commented further that, looking ahead, with imported inflation gradually receding upon the peaking of global food and commodity prices last year and with a slowing local economy, inflation should come down further in the period ahead. The Government will continue to closely monitor the inflation situation, particularly its impact on the lower-income people.

Further information

The CPIs and year-on-year rates of change at section level for March 2012 are shown in Table 1. The time series on the year-on-year rates of change in the CPIs before and after removing the effects of one-off measures are shown in Table 2. For discerning the latest trend in consumer prices, it is also useful to look at the changes in the seasonally adjusted CPIs. The corresponding time series on the average monthly rates of change during the latest 3 months for the seasonally adjusted CPIs are shown in Table 3. The rates of change in the original and the seasonally adjusted Composite CPI and the underlying inflation rate are presented graphically in Chart 1.

More detailed CPI data (including year-on-year comparison, month-to-month comparison and seasonally adjusted data series) are available in the monthly reports. Users can download the March 2012 issue of the Monthly Report on the Consumer Price Index free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/products_and_services/products/publications/statistical_report/prices_household_expenditure/index.jsp).

For enquiries about the CPIs, please contact the Consumer Price Index Section of the C&SD at telephone no. 2805 6403 or e-mail address cpi@censtatd.gov.hk.

Ends/Monday, April 23, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:30

Provisional statistics of restaurant receipts and purchases for the first quarter of 2012 released

What happened to the doom and gloom predicted by Legco tobacco legislation opposer Tommy Cheung ?

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released the latest provisional figures on restaurant receipts and purchases today (May 3).

The value of total receipts of the restaurants sector was $23.4 billion in the first quarter of 2012, up by 6.0% over the first quarter of 2011. Over the same period, the value of total purchases by restaurants increased by 5.2% to $8.6 billion.

After discounting the effect of price changes, total restaurant receipts slightly fell by 0.2% in volume in the first quarter of 2012 compared with a year earlier. The relevant components of the Consumer Price Index are used as deflators.

Analysed by type of restaurant, total receipts of fast food shops increased by 10.7% in value and 5.7% in volume in the first quarter of 2012 compared with a year earlier, while total receipts of miscellaneous eating and drinking places increased by 9.6% in value and 2.4% in volume.

Total receipts of Chinese restaurants increased by 5.1% in value but decreased by 1.6% in volume in the first quarter of 2012 compared with a year earlier. Over the same period, total receipts of bars increased by 4.4% in value but slightly decreased by 0.1% in volume. As for non-Chinese restaurants, total receipts increased by 4.2% in value but decreased by 1.6% in volume.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, the volume of total restaurant receipts decreased by 1.2% in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the fourth quarter of 2011.

To facilitate better understanding of the short-term business performance of the restaurants sector, statistics in respect of the restaurant receipts and purchases in individual months of the reference quarter are also compiled.

Analysed by month, the value of total receipts of the restaurants sector was provisionally estimated at $8.4 billion, $7.3 billion and $7.7 billion respectively in January, February and March 2012. The provisional value of total purchases by restaurants was $3.1 billion, $2.7 billion and $2.9 billion respectively in January, February and March 2012.

After discounting the effect of price changes, total restaurant receipts increased by 2.4% in volume in January 2012 but decreased by 2.7% and 0.6% respectively in February and March 2012 compared with a year earlier.

It should be noted that as the Lunar New Year fell on January 23 this year but on February 3 last year, the above year-on-year comparison might have been affected by this factor to a certain extent.

Table 1 presents the revised figures of total purchases by the restaurants sector and restaurant receipts by type of restaurant for the fourth quarter of 2011 as well as the provisional figures for the first quarter of 2012.

Table 2 presents the revised value indices of restaurant receipts by type of restaurant for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the provisional indices for the first quarter of 2012, with the average value index of restaurant receipts from October 2009 to September 2010 taken as 100.

Table 3 presents the revised volume indices of restaurant receipts by type of restaurant for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the provisional indices for the first quarter of 2012, with the average volume index of restaurant receipts from October 2009 to September 2010 taken as 100.

Table 4 presents the year-on-year rate of change in total restaurant receipts in volume terms based on the original quarterly series, as well as the quarter-to-quarter rate of change based on the seasonally adjusted series.

The revised figures on restaurant receipts and purchases for the first quarter of 2012 (with breakdown by month) will be released through the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hong_kong_statistics/index.jsp) and relevant publications of the Department starting from June 20, 2012.

The classification of restaurants follows the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC), which is used in various economic surveys for classifying economic units into different industry classes.

More detailed statistics are given in the Report on Quarterly Survey of Restaurant Receipts and Purchases. Users can download this publication free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/products_and_services/products/publications/statistical_report/commerce_and_industry/index.jsp).

Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact the Distribution Services Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2123 1040 or e-mail: qsr@censtatd.gov.hk).

Ends/Thursday, May 3, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:30