Chinese Legislature Considers National Tobacco Control Law

The government is looking into the country's first measure of its kind that would restrict smoking and tobacco use.

January 04, 2013

BEJING - For the first time, the Chinese legislature will be discussing national tobacco control proposals, the Global Times reports. In its report adopted recently, the National People??s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee said it was "quite necessary" to have such laws to curb smoking.

Currently, China ranks as the number-one tobacco producing and consuming nation in the world, with more than 300 million smokers. But only a handful of cities and provinces have any laws concerning public smoking, and there has been no national push for a smoking ban.

This year, 139 deputies have sponsored four proposals that would prohibit smoking in some public areas. The Education, Science, Culture and Health Committee (ESCHC) of the NPC has asked the central administration officials to promptly move on studying and researching the bills to move forward on tobacco control.

In 2003, China pledged to curb tobacco usage inside its borders when it ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The government has said it would enact a public ban on smoking in its 12th five-year plan (2011 to 2015) period.

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