China Business

Feb 11, 2006

New cigarette factories banned on health grounds
BEIJING - China will not approve any new cigarette factories, including foreign-invested factories, to reduce consumption and curb smoking-related diseases, which cause one million deaths in the country every year.

The government will also put existing tobacco production under strict control through taxes and industry reorganization, Chinese ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Sha Zukang

said at a tobacco control conference of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.

Officials from more than 110 countries gathered in Geneva on Sunday, as part of a two-week conference on implementing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which aims at curbing tobacco use among the world's 1.3 billion smokers. The conference is expected to make decisions in technical, procedural and financial matters relating to the implementation of the FCTC.

In November 2003, China joined the treaty, which was passed by WHO in May 2003 and became effective in February 2005. Sha said tobacco control is a "long-term and strenuous" task and promised active implementation of the treaty in China.

He said the Chinese Government will follow the relevant stipulations of the convention to improve its related laws and regulations, strictly control smoking in public spaces and strengthen regulation of tobacco production and business activities, China Daily quoted him as saying.

(Asia Pulse/PTI)

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