China Should Ban All Tobacco Advertising
According to news from the Chinese e-cigarette industry: "Regarding tobacco advertising, the Advertising Law should emphasize 'prohibition of all tobacco advertising.' This means that at any time and in any place, no form of 'tobacco advertising' should be allowed!" Today, several public health experts, including Professor Wang Ke'an, former president of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, and Professor Wu Yiqun, vice president, sent a letter to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress.
It is reported that the revised draft of the Advertising Law will be submitted to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress for review at the end of June. Experts are calling for the revised draft of the Advertising Law to align with the position of the "Framework Convention on Tobacco Control," which has been signed by the Chinese government, approved by the National People's Congress, and has been in effect in China for 8 years, without any "loopholes."
The law leaves room for tobacco advertising.
According to the provisions of Article 13, Paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: "Each party shall comprehensively prohibit all tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship in accordance with its constitution or constitutional principles." The other language texts of this article in the Convention uniformly state "comprehensive prohibition of all tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship," while the Chinese text translates "comprehensive" as "broad."
The revised draft of the Advertising Law states in Article 20: It is prohibited to publish or indirectly publish tobacco advertisements using mass media and forms such as broadcasting, film, television, newspapers, journals, books, audio-visual products, electronic publications, mobile communication networks, and the internet; it is prohibited to set up tobacco advertisements in various waiting rooms, theaters, conference halls, sports venues, libraries, cultural centers, museums, parks, and other public places, as well as in the controlled areas of hospitals and schools, and on public transportation.
"If a listing method is used to prohibit certain forms of tobacco advertising, tobacco companies will turn to other new forms. For example, the tobacco industry has already adopted innovative advertising, promotion, and sponsorship vehicles such as product tasting events, selection events, award ceremonies, and smoking clubs. Coupled with new methods like Weibo and WeChat, using a listing method will only leave more room for tobacco advertising."
"Prohibition of all" is the basic principle of the revision.
Currently, the tobacco industry is conveying misleading information through various marketing and sponsorship methods, misleading people about the addictive and deadly nature of tobacco products, and promoting tobacco consumption. Tobacco advertising has a particularly severe negative impact on young people. Wu Yiqun told reporters that a survey conducted last year among children aged 5 to 6 in China, Russia, and India showed that 85% of Chinese children could recognize more than one tobacco product trademark, ranking first among the survey samples.
Based on the basic principle of "prohibition of all tobacco advertising, sponsorship, and promotion," there are also some clauses in the Advertising Law that are worth discussing. It is understood that a letter signed by dozens of public health experts has been sent to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress.
