Group warns plain packs hinder Hongkongers’ efforts to detect smuggled cigarettes
Survey finds 88 per cent of smokers cannot tell smuggled from taxed cigarettes under proposed plain pack design as advocates call for better QR code system
Nearly 90 per cent of Hong Kong smokers cannot distinguish smuggled cigarettes from duty-paid ones under the government’s proposed plain packaging measures, a survey by an advocacy group has found.
The Long-term Tobacco Policy Concern Group also urged authorities on Thursday to expand the function of the tobacco stamp duty system to allow consumers to scan QR codes and verify whether a pack had been taxed.
“With the current packaging, consumers can tell if a pack is taxed based on the brand labels and the printing quality,” group convenor Joe Lo Kai-lut said.
“But after the policy’s implementation, their logos would not be shown, while the warning patterns in the middle of the packages were unified. In this case, I believe most consumers would not be able to identify the difference.”
Cigarette packs sold in Hong Kong currently carry one of 12 government-designated health warning images covering at least 85 per cent of the packaging, with brand logos restricted to the bottom section.
The Health Bureau has proposed introducing plain cigarette packaging by the second quarter of 2027. Under the plan, brand logos would be removed, with names shown only in standardised fonts and colours.