'Tobacco tax rise turns smokers to illicit cigarettes'
The rise in tobacco tax has likely turned smokers to the illicit cigarette market, a group of lawmakers said on Monday, as they announced plans for a survey to gauge public opinions on tackling the illegal products.  The exercise will begin later this month, with QR codes linked to the questionnaire placed at nearly 700 retail locations for about two weeks.  Lawmaker Steven Ho, one of those behind the initiative, said the increase in tobacco tax has not been too effective in reducing the smoking rate.  He said revenue from tobacco tax between March and July dropped more than 50 percent from the same period last year, but only a small number of people quit smoking.  “Increasing tobacco tax helps to reduce the number of smokers, but not as efficient as expected... If the government wants the increase in tobacco tax to be more efficient, they have to find a way to tackle illegal cigarettes," Ho said.  Fellow legislator Peter Shiu said the sale of illicit cigarettes is still serious with people giving out flyers and offering samples of the products, even after customs officers have stepped up law enforcement.  "We believe the customs has worked quite hard, but still can't solve the problem. So we need to find another technology to see whether the cigarettes have some markings to make sure those cigarettes have paid the duty or not," Shiu said.  Lawmaker Johnny Ng, for his part, said there is anti-forgery technology readily available, after the administration previously noted that it was looking into the feasibility of putting designated labels on tobacco products to easily identify them as duty-paid.  Offenders can face a HK$1 million fine and two years in jail for the sale, purchase, possession or handling of illicit cigarettes.