The fight against Big Tobacco and their cronies
Clear the Air - Anti Tobacco Committee - Overview
Clear the Air provides a detailed online database of International specialist reports, Legco attendances, news articles and TV/radio appearances (local and international) by our personnel relating to our fight against Big Tobacco, their cronies and their product, nicotine addiction.
Tobacco direct use and consequential collateral damage to bystanders kills more people per year than all murders, suicides, narcotics and other dangerous drugs, part one poisons and traffic accidents combined. More than 25% of Hong Kong local males smoke and the number of female smokers has grown in the past 8 years. More than ½ of tourists to Hong Kong each year come from Mainland China where in excess of 60% of males are daily smokers. In the 1980’s Hong Kong was one of the more advanced countries in tobacco control. Sadly from 1999 until 2007 Hong Kong slipped backwards in Tobacco Control whilst the rest of the world made significant advances.
In Hong Kong approximately 7,000 persons die each year from tobacco related illnesses-of this number an average of 1,324 persons die from exposure to environmental (passive) tobacco smoke (ETS). ETS contains more than 4,000 different toxic and cancerous chemicals that are pathogenic to human and animal health.
Clear the Air is the leading local online source of tobacco related information in Hong Kong and the first source of contact for the local and international media, TV news documentary and radio talk shows.
The raise in tobacco taxation , proven to be the major weapon in the fight against tobacco addiction by WHO and the World Bank, was delayed by Hong Kong Government between 2001-2009 , 8 long years. Meanwhile a University of Hong Kong peer reviewed study showed that the cost to society through medical treatment, loss of productivity and including loss of life is in excess of HK$ 72 billion per year, more than twenty times the Government taxation levied on tobacco products.
It comes as no surprise that the Government turns to the Bauhinia Foundation thinktank for views on policy; however the chairman of this thinktank, Charles Ho Tsu Kwok is coincidentally the owner of Hong Kong Tobacco Company Ltd, something expressly forbidden under the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative and Framework Convention on Tobacco Control agreement which China (ergo Hong Kong) has ratified. For several years up till just before 2007 when the Hong Kong anti smoking laws came into being, Philip HO of British American Tobacco sat on the Central Government Policy Unit thinktank. ( ) The Hong Kong Government has a magic wand to make things happen. The Financial Secretary finally announced in his 2009 budget that ‘ in the interests of health’ he had increased tobacco tax by 50% to an uninspiring US$ 3 per packet. He must continue to do so on a regular basis to fall in line with FCTC Treaty requirements and overseas first world jurisdictions where the tobacco taxation is an effective tool in reducing usage, preventing youth smoking and saving lives (e.g. Ireland Euros 8 tax per pack, New York US$ 7.5 tax per pack).
Clear the Air will continue to campaign through all available means to push the local Government to comply with its International binding commitments under the FCTC Treaty, to ban brand stretching products, to make licensees responsible for anti smoking enforcement in their premises, to fight against the charity status of Big Tobacco funded front organisations targeting inquisitive youth and for regular tobacco taxation increases.
Look at the effect of tobacco taxation !
| Quantity of Duty-Paid Cigarettes (Million Sticks) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| January | 269.72 | 388.85 | 316.83 |
| February* | 489.21 | 732.06 | 608.66 |
| March | 169.05 | 19.26 | 60.85 |
| April | 134.83 | 118.60 | 151.44 |
| May | 325.45 | 288.94 | 138.87 |
| June | 282.79 | 277.59 | 219.49 |
| July | 299.81 | 333.11 | 234.58 |
| August | 300.14 | 306.43 | 227.36 |
| September | 305.20 | 372.32 | 239.58 |
| October | 299.82 | 295.14 | - |
| November | 310.39 | 309.48 | - |
| December | 309.33 | 348.44 | - |
| Total | 3,495.74 | 3,790.22 | 2,197.66 |
| Average per month | 291.311,660 | 315,851,660 | 244,184,400** |
| Source: W C Choy for Commissioner of Customs and Excise | |||
Notes: |
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Clear the Air and many other local medical professionals lobbied the Financial Secretary for years from 2001 till 2009 to increase tobacco taxation. This is the most effective proven method of reducing tobacco use and preventing youth from starting smoking. The WHO Tobacco Free Initiative and World Bank state that a 10% increase in tobacco tax reduces overall smoking by 4%. The Hong Kong Government ignored the WHO advice for ten long years until February 2009.
Government sources had earlier stated that there would be no tobacco tax increase in 2009 but Hong Kong indeed had a 50% tobacco tax increase in February 2009 and if the WHO and World Bank guideline data were correct we could expect a reduction in sales of 20% - what this data shows is a reduction in monthly sales of 22.7% in the first 9 months of 2009 compared to the monthly sales in 2008.
The Hong Kong Government is bound by the FCTC Treaty and must continue to increase tobacco taxation to First World Country levels at regular intervals since the current level of HK$ 24 per pack is far behind equivalent overseas jurisdictions– for example in Ireland the duties are 8 Euros per pack.
This Hong Kong Government Customs Department data is explicit proof that tobacco taxation works.
And if you are wondering whether March 2008 data is a typo :
“Dear Mr Middleton,
There had been a speculation that the government will raise the duty on tobacco goods.
The traders would thus build up their stock in hand before the Budget Day to avoid paying heavier duty if indeed the government did raise the duty as expected.
The same phenomenon had been observed each year previously whenever there was a rumour that the tobacco duty might be raised.
W C Choy
for Commissioner of Customs and Excise”