HK district councillors call for stricter measures over illicit cigarette ads

Illicit cigarette ads in the form of stickers have circulated in public areas across Hong Kong, prompting district councillors to call for enhanced law enforcement and removal actions by authorities.

According to the South China Morning Post and Sing Tao Headline, Community Development Pulsation (社區發展脈搏), a local non-profit organisation promoting sustainable development, said on Tuesday (23 July) that the complaints about the distribution of promotional flyers for illegal cigarettes in public housing estates had increased over the past two weeks. 

Group member Leung Ka Wai (梁家瑋), who is also a Sha Tin district councillor, said that the advertising stickers had been found near bus stops, next to garbage bins, in shopping mall toilets, and on vending machines in Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, and North District, which are being used to promote illicit cigarettes within the community. 

According to the reports, Leung said while it was common for people to distribute "dim sum order forms" (點心紙) for illicit cigarettes in housing estates in the past, these have now been upgraded to "stickers" (貼紙), which are being seen at various places. 

Moreover, the design of these stickers seems to be appealing to youngsters, featuring images of beautiful young girls and phrases such as “cute girl customer service” (美少女客服), “free samples” (免費試食), “same-day delivery” (即日送貨), and “delivery service covering Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories” (送遞服務遍及港九新界), Leung added. This also indicates that the illicit cigarette vendors are expanding their target customer base.

Community Development Pulsation has called on the Hong Kong government to prioritise addressing the issue of illicit cigarettes first, before moving forward with a phased implementation of banning flavored cigarettes, in order to avoid worsening the problem of illicit cigarettes.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Community Development Pulsation for more information. 

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Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) said on Wednesday that, the department has always been closely monitoring and taking stringent enforcement actions against violations of the Ordinance, including displaying or distributing smoking product advertisements, and following up on every relevant complaint seriously. 

The Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) has removed over 1,900 webpages, social media accounts or posts with smoking product advertisements from January 2023 to June 2024. It has also issued 123 summonses and 42 warning letters regarding offences of displaying or distributing smoking product advertisements during the same period.

The TACO has conducted around 200 joint operations with the Police, Housing Department, and Customs and Excise Department since January, to enhance enforcement against the distribution of smoking product leaflets in public housing estates across the city, according to the release. Moreover, the TACO has successfully prosecuted 14 offenders in 15 cases for distributing smoking product leaflets since 2021, with the highest penalty being an HK$8,000 fine.

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