Hong Kong is phasing out flavored cigarettes and increasing no-smoking areas, among other measures in a new bill. Photo credit: Tang Jin Gao, Pexels.
Hong Kong lawmakers approved a major tobacco control bill that will phase out flavoured cigarettes, widen smoking bans in public spaces, and impose new penalties on alternative smoking products.
The Legislative Council passed the Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2025 by 74 votes to 1, with 7 abstentions. Health secretary Lo Chung-mau said the measures would improve public health and argued that Hong Kong needed to catch up. “The fact is that Hong Kong is lagging” on smoking controls, Lo told lawmakers before the vote. “The government wants a win for all of us.”
The bill bans the sale of non-menthol flavored cigarettes starting in the second quarter of 2027, with menthol products to be banned later. From next year, smoking while queuing in public will be prohibited, and more no-smoking zones, including hospital entrances, will be designated. Offenders will face a HK$3,000 (US$385) fine.
From April 30, 2026, people will not be allowed to possess materials used for smoking alternative smoking products such as e-cigarette cartridges, heated tobacco sticks, or herbal cigarettes in public. Authorities will treat use as possession. Carrying more than 5ml (0.17 ounces) of e-liquid or more than 100 heated tobacco sticks could bring a HK$50,000 (US$6,400) fine and 6 months in jail; smaller amounts still carry a HK$3,000 (US$385) penalty.
The law also introduces duty stamps for imported cigarettes and increases penalties for smuggling tobacco.
Most lawmakers backed the bill, but pro-business Liberal Party legislators Peter Shiu Ka-fai and Michael Lee Chun-keung warned that banning flavored products would drive smokers to the black market and possibly raise smoking rates. Both submitted amendments to relax or cancel the ban, but lawmakers rejected them. Health secretary Lo said around 70% of young first-time smokers had used flavored products and warned that Shiu and Lee’s amendment proposal would send an “extremely wrong message.”
Lawmaker Doreen Kong cast the only vote against the bill. She said she supported tougher smoking controls but argued a blanket ban on flavored cigarettes was not typical for a “free and commercial city.”
Official data shows 9.1% of Hong Kong residents smoked in 2023, about 580,000 daily smokers. The government aims to lower that rate to 7.8% this year. Authorities say the new measures are key to reaching the goal and noted that Singapore’s strict smoking rules had not discouraged tourism there.