Now News interview on Smoking Regulations

Now News programme “Now Report” interviewed Mr Gordon Chan about the further tightening of smoking regulations and vaping ban in Hong Kong.

In an interview with Now News, Mr Gordon Chan discussed further tightening measures introduced by the Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, the ban on alternative smoking products, and attempts to circumvent it.

The ordinance, gazetted on 19 September 2025, introduced a number of measures to further regulate smoking and vaping, with the goal of tightening controls on illicit cigarettes and preventing new smokers from taking up the habit.

Possession of a “specified alternative smoking product” in a public place is now an offence, and under the new legislation, a person is presumed to be in possession when smoking or carrying an activated alternative smoking product. This effectively banned the smoking and use of these products in public places.

Incidentally, in the very recent judgment HKSAR v Modic Entertainment (HK) Company Limited [2026] HKCFA 15, the Court of Final Appeal discussed the wide scope covered by  “public places”:

12 …The authorities make it clear that whether a place is public or private is a matter of fact and degree. The fact that members of the public must satisfy certain conditions before they are admitted to the premises does not suffice to deprive those premises of their public character. As section 3 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance states, “public … includes any class of the public”. Persons who satisfy the conditions imposed may constitute a relevant “class of the public”.

Perhaps unbeknownst to many, a further amendment had been buried in the amendment ordinance to delete “in a public place” from the new offence. However, this further amendment is yet to be put into operation. Once it does, e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes will be completely banned even from homes.

Following the 2025 measures, smoking regulation in Hong Kong has undergone drastic changes. It remains to be seen how effective the new measures are in achieving the goals of banning alternative smoking products while controlling illicit cigarettes. But in any event, one must be cautious to avoid contravening the new requirements.