Controls on cigarettes 'not tough enough'
Source: Xinhua |
December 26, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A NEW tobacco control program is not tough enough to address China's tobacco-related issues, it was claimed yesterday.
The program does not include plans to have graphic warnings on cigarette packs, one of the most effective ways to persuade smokers to quit, said Wu Yiqun, executive vice director of the anti-smoking advocacy group Thinktank.
"The program smelled smoky," said Wu, implying that the tobacco industry may have had a hand in the creation of the program.
The China Tobacco Control Program (2012-2015) was released last Friday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
According to the program, authorities plan to expand the size of warning labels on cigarette packs, as well as enlarge their type and highlight some words in color, in order to dissuade smokers. The program does not include plans to put graphic images on the packs, as is done in some countries.
"This means graphic warnings on cigarette packs are unlikely to appear in China before 2016," said Wu.
China has ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, pledging measures to curb tobacco use - including placing clear warnings regarding the effects of tobacco on packs.
By October, 63 countries and regions that ratified the convention had used or decided to use graphic images on packs.
Images of bleeding brains, blackened teeth and rotten lungs can show the harm of smoking, experts say.
In its annual tobacco control report released yesterday, Thinktank urged making the graphic warnings a compulsory part of cigarette packaging.
The program also fails to increase excise duties on cigarettes, another method that has proved effective in reducing smoking.
According to Thinktank's report, excise duties account for 65 to 70 percent of the retail price of cigarettes in other countries, but just 40 percent in China.
China has more than 300 million smokers, while another 740 million people are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, official figures show.
The tobacco industry, which contributes nearly a tenth of the country's tax revenue, is seen as an economic pillar in some provinces and regions, leading some to believe it has interfered in national tobacco control efforts.
The program does not include plans to have graphic warnings on cigarette packs, one of the most effective ways to persuade smokers to quit, said Wu Yiqun, executive vice director of the anti-smoking advocacy group Thinktank.
"The program smelled smoky," said Wu, implying that the tobacco industry may have had a hand in the creation of the program.
The China Tobacco Control Program (2012-2015) was released last Friday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
According to the program, authorities plan to expand the size of warning labels on cigarette packs, as well as enlarge their type and highlight some words in color, in order to dissuade smokers. The program does not include plans to put graphic images on the packs, as is done in some countries.
"This means graphic warnings on cigarette packs are unlikely to appear in China before 2016," said Wu.
China has ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, pledging measures to curb tobacco use - including placing clear warnings regarding the effects of tobacco on packs.
By October, 63 countries and regions that ratified the convention had used or decided to use graphic images on packs.
Images of bleeding brains, blackened teeth and rotten lungs can show the harm of smoking, experts say.
In its annual tobacco control report released yesterday, Thinktank urged making the graphic warnings a compulsory part of cigarette packaging.
The program also fails to increase excise duties on cigarettes, another method that has proved effective in reducing smoking.
According to Thinktank's report, excise duties account for 65 to 70 percent of the retail price of cigarettes in other countries, but just 40 percent in China.
China has more than 300 million smokers, while another 740 million people are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, official figures show.
The tobacco industry, which contributes nearly a tenth of the country's tax revenue, is seen as an economic pillar in some provinces and regions, leading some to believe it has interfered in national tobacco control efforts.
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