China Tobacco Ads Must Obey Law Says Official (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

               Aug. 13, 1998 >> 4:50 pm GMT 

               Tobacco Advertizing Must Abide
               by Law: Official

               Xinhua
               12-AUG-98

               BEIJING (Aug. 13) XINHUA - The State Administration for
Industry and
               Commerce (SAIC) said that tobacco advertising must abide by
the relevant
               stipulations of the Advertising Law, the China Daily reported
today. 

               Cigarette and tobacco ads are banned from newspapers,
television and certain
               public places in china such as airports, waiting rooms, on
highrises and in
               cinemas, according to the advertizing Law. 

               Advertisements can be put on billboards and automobiles, said
Dong Jingsheng,
               a division chief of the SAIC. 

               But, he said, many local governments have tried to ban nearly
all cigarette ads in
               direct contradiction with the law, spurred by a yearly
National Sanitary
               Metropolis appraisal. 

               As the appraisal approaches each September, local governments
have tried to
               get rid of cigarette ads in bus stations and streets, one of
the ten conditions for
               qualifying as a sanitary metropolis. 

               Dong said local governments should be consistent in
implementing the law on
               cigarette ads to avoid disputes with advertizers. 

               Experts said many local governments want both a reputation as
a clean city and
               the profits from selling space for cigarette ads. Big profits
to be made from
               cigarette ads tempt local officials to skirt the law by
selling even more space than
               legal. 

               That inconsistent application of the law must stop, Dong
said, adding that
               offenders must be punished. 

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