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December 24, 2014

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Draft law on tobacco ads fails to impress

A DRAFT amendment to China’s Advertisement Law, which is currently under review, fails to ban tobacco advertising across the board, experts said yesterday.

Despite improvements in the second draft, companies will still be able to advertise their products in tobacco shops, which is against the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Wu Yiqun, executive vice director of ThinkTank, the anti-smoking advocacy group, told a press conference yesterday.

“The only motive for advertisement, promotion and sponsorship of the tobacco industry is to sell more products, which spells disaster for public health,” she said.

The draft, which was submitted to the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, in Beijing on Monday, bans tobacco advertising at public venues, rather than listing specific venues where advertising would be banned.

The second draft, after advice on the first edition, also bans brands, trademarks, packaging, design and content related to tobacco products from other products, services and public service announcements.

Vice director of the NPC Law Committee, An Jian, said that according to the provisions, all forms of tobacco adverts would be banned except for those displayed in tobacco product shops.

However, Wu argued that tobacco shops were public places, and so should be free from tobacco advertising.

Li Xiaoliang, director of the Pioneers for Health Consultancy Center based in Yunnan — China’s major tobacco production province — said there was a tobacco shop every 200 meters along the streets of the provincial capital Kunming, and allowing advertisements in tobacco shops would create a large loophole for producers.

At the press conference, ThinkTank released its annual report on China’s smoking control measures, recognizing efforts made in 2014, including legislation.

In January, a circular issued by authorities required officials to take the lead and to not smoke in public. In November, Beijing passed a bill aiming to ban smoking in all indoor public places, workplaces as well as on public transport. It is due to take effect in June 2015.




 

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