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Quote from Clear the Air for World No Tobacco Day 31 May 2012

Hong Kong Government needs to recover from the Donald Tsang era and completely remove all connections with the vile tobacco industry.

It needs to enforce yearly excise tax increases in addition to inflation  that must equal or exceed the excise levels in Australia, New Zealand and New York.

Legislation must be enacted to force political parties to declare their sponsors and income sources so the public can see who is actually pulling their strings and directing their actions.

Tobacco front organisations currently with charity status need to be audited and removed from the list of charities. Licensees of premises must be made responsible to prevent smoking within or lose their licenses. Smoking must be banned in all areas of licensed premises including patio and outdoor seating areas and within 15 meters thereof. The MPFA must take fiduciary responsibility and legal control of its Trustees and force them to divest from tobacco and other unethical investments. Tobacco advertising is forbidden in Hong Kong including ‘the silent salesman’ so plain packaging of tobacco products needs to be enacted and tobacco must be sold from under the counter and removed from point of sale view and sold only by licensed vendors under strict conditions.  Mandatory jail sentences should be imposed for possession of Duty Not Paid tobacco products. Customs Department must be forbidden from accepting funding for its tobacco informer reward scheme from tobacco companies and Government must strictly abide by the conditions of the FCTC Treaty binding Hong Kong and China. It should be an offence for children born after 01 Jan 2000 to possess tobacco products.

We challenge Hong Kong’s new  Government to be proactive and make Hong Kong  tobacco free by 02/02/2022.

James Middleton

Chairman

www.cleartheair.org.hk

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