6-month jail as part of e-cigarette ban

Electronic cigarettes will become illegal in Hong Kong as the city’s health authority proposed a bill to ban the import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertising of alternative smoking products on Wednesday.

Harsh penalties — up to six months behind bars and a maximum fine of HK$50,000 — is expected, the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Bill 2019 proposed by the Food and Health Bureau.

The bill was tabled to the Legislative Council on Wednesday and will have its first reading on Feb 20.

It is understood the bill is in line with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s Policy Address last October — with the aim of safeguarding public health.

If passed, it will be enacted after about six months, Deputy Secretary for Food and Health (Health) Amy Yuen Wai-yin told a press conference held to announce the bill.

However, alternative smoking products, including e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn products and herbal cigarettes, can still be used in areas where smoking is allowed. A fine up to HK$5,000 will be imposed if

they are lit in non-smoking areas.

Following the import ban, visitors to Hong Kong are prohibited from bringing in any alternative smoking products. Cargo and people in transit without crossing the border will be exempt.

If alternative smoking products are allowed to be brought into the city, there is a risk of them being resold in Hong Kong — thus forming a black market, Yuen explained.

She revealed after the bill becomes a law, boxes for collecting alternative smoking products will be placed at borders. Visitors who voluntarily throw their e-cigarettes and other alternative smoking products into the boxes will not be regarded as violating the law.

She added that there will be a period of leniency — first three months of the law’s implementation. During such period, visitors who don’t throw the products away will be handled with leniency if they hand in products after being found carrying products during immigration checks.

“We don’t aim to criminalize smoking e-cigarettes, or create trouble for people in their daily lives. We just want to minimize channels for available products.” Yuen said.

The export of alternative smoking products will not be banned. Sellers can export the products at any time to clear out their stocks, according to the bill.

Since Lam released her plan to ban e-cigarettes, the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health has collected around 62,000 signatures from the public supporting the ban.

A study by the University of Hong Kong in 2016-17 showed more than 10 percent of underage students in Hong Kong had used e-cigarettes.