China Tightens Labelling Requirements (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

                             Tuesday  June 2  1998

                 Cigarette tar to be cut
                   by 2000, labels to be
                             clearer 

                                                    

                   Smoke alarm: a man disregards a smoking ban at a
                Beijing market. The mainland is worried about health costs
                 incurred through smoking. Agence France-Presse photo 

                STAFF REPORTER and Agencies
                Labelling requirements for cigarette tar levels are to
                be tightened next month and overall content cut by
                2000, Xinhua reported yesterday. 

                Packaging will be required to specify tar content in
                milligrams per cigarette, replacing vague statements
                like "medium" or "low" tar, State Tobacco
                Monopoly Bureau official Yu Minfang said. 

                She said: "We've decided to implement the order as
                of July 1. The figure of tar content must be as
                accurate as to one decimal place." 

                The bureau planned to reduce average tar content
                in domestically made cigarettes from 18 milligrams
                to less than 15 milligrams by 2000, said Ms Yu. 

                Most developed countries require tar levels below
                12 milligrams. 

                The announcement followed activities around the
                country on Sunday marking World No-Tobacco
                Day.

                Zhang Yifang, vice-president of the China
                Association for Tobacco and Health, an official
                anti-smoking lobby, said: "China has 320 million
                smokers. It's not realistic to ask them to quit
                smoking overnight."

                Xinhua said 79 provinces and major cities on the
                mainland had drawn up regulations banning
                smoking in public places.

                They comprised Shanxi, Jilin, Shandong, Jiangxi
                and Fujian provinces, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and
                Chongqing municipalities and 70 provincial capitals,
                including Guangzhou and Wuhan.

                Minister of Health Zhang Wenkang said: "These
                'smoking-control' cities only account for one-eighth
                of all the country's cities.

                "It will be a long-term and arduous task to promote
                the ban to all cities," he said.

                The mainland is the largest consumer and producer
                of cigarettes, but the Government has been taking
                an increasingly hostile policy stance towards its
                tobacco industry.

                However, the huge industry has managed to blunt
                the implementation of a number of policy proposals,
                such as punitive provincial cigarette taxes aimed at
                funding health care.

                Mainland tobacco companies produced 1,700
                billion cigarettes and paid 83 billion yuan (HK$77.2
                billion) in taxes in 1996.

                       Copyright ©1998 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.
                                     All Rights Reserved.