Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/550322
14 tobaccoasia FRONT PAGE NEWS 卷首新闻 found that only 1.8% of respondents used electronic cigarettes. But the council insisted that a preemptive approach was still needed. E-cigarettes can be sold legally in Hong Kong if they do not contain nicotine. However, any product with more than 0.1% nicotine is required to be registered with the health department. India Govt: No Stay on Total Ban The Delhi government recently said that the high court has not put a stay on the notification banning manufacturing, storage, distribution, or sale of tobacco products in the national capital. Accord- ing to Delhi's Food and Safety Depart- ment, the high court has only restrained the department not to take any coercive action against a petitioner, who had filed a case against the ban. The department claimed that some of the tobacco traders were under the impression that the notification has been stayed by the court following media reports in this regard. "The notification of ban on tobacco products has not been stayed. All the food safety officers of the department have been directed to keep a vigil in the market and set up their enforcement activity to check and lift sample of such tobacco products as have banned under the notification," a senior government official said. The department has advised tobacco traders not to violate the provision of the notification. Philippines Tax Stamps vs Illicit Smokes Tax stamps for tobacco products are a good thing for the industry, according to a cigarette maker, saying the system implemented by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) can help curb illicit trade in the Philippines. The company, however, noted the sin tax law has disrupted the market. Paul Riley, president of Philip Morris International Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), said the implementation of the internal revenue stamps integrated system (IRSIS) will help combat the proliferation of illegal cigarettes in the Philippines market. "While the significant tax increases, starting early 2013, caused some disruption in the market, we congratu- late the BIR on the introduction of tax paid stamps on December 1 last year," said Riley in an e-mail message to GMA News Online. "This physical on-pack proof of tax compliance will greatly assist in the fight against the illicit cigarette trade." BPI economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said sales of "sin commodities" such as alcohol and tobacco "continue to be robust, notwithstanding the additional tax slapped on the retail price." The BIR implemented the IRSIS under the sin tax law to shore up its tax