Advanced Search

Related News

Home » Nation

Chinese lawmakers urge full tobacco advertisement ban

Source: Xinhua | August 30, 2014, Saturday | Online Edition

CHINESE lawmakers called for a complete ban on tobacco advertisements when discussing an Advertisement Law bill today.

Members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) discussed the draft amendment to the 20-year-old Advertisement Law at the ongoing bi-monthly legislative session.

A number of lawmakers called for the law to ban tobacco advertisements in all forms and venues.

Tobacco companies will still take the advantage of loopholes if the law does not clearly impose a complete ban, said He Yicheng, an NPC Standing Committee member, at the panel discussion.

The bill, tabled for its first reading on Monday, proposes banning tobacco advertisements directly or indirectly transmitted via radio, film, television, newspaper, magazines, books, audio and visual products, electronic publications, telecommunication networks and the Internet.

It is also more specific on public venues where tobacco ads would be banned, such as libraries, cultural centers, museums, parks, waiting rooms, theaters, meeting halls, sports auditoriums, and the vicinities of hospitals and schools, as well as outdoor.

"We don't need to got to the trouble of listing media and venues that are closed to tobacco ads. It will be clearer to just adopt a complete ban," He said.

As the world's largest tobacco maker and consumer, China has more than 300 million smokers and another 740 million people exposed to second-hand smoke each year.

According to a report released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in May, 6.9 percent of Chinese junior school students smoke and 48.5 percent of students between 13 and 15 years old had seen a tobacco advertisement in the previous month. In a survey conducted among children aged five and six, 85 percent could identify at least one cigarette brand.

Nation


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend