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NOTICE PAPER NO. 1599
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 10 JANUARY 2023
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Lim Wee Kiak
MP for Sembawang GRC
Question No. 3966
To ask the Minister for Health with regard to the law imposing a cohort smoking ban that was recently passed in New Zealand (a) whether the Ministry can provide an update on whether the study on how the ban can be applied to Singapore has been completed; and (b) if so, when will the findings be published.
NOTICE PAPER NO. 1612
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 10 JANUARY 2023
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Liang Eng Hwa
MP for Bukit Panjang
Question No. 4032
To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether an update can be provided on the study to impose a cohort smoking ban, which is similar to the recent ban imposed by New Zealand; (b) what are the issues that will be faced in its implementation; and (c) how soon can this cohort smoking ban be implemented.
Answer
Mr Speaker, may I answer questions 1 and 2 together?
The Ministry of Health (MOH) is continually reviewing and enhancing our anti-smoking measures. This includes studying international practices and ideas on how to further reduce smoking prevalence.
New Zealand has introduced legislation to implement a tobacco cohort ban. It has however not banned vaping, unlike Singapore. We will study further on whether New Zealand’s implementation approach is feasible in Singapore, as the implementation of the ban in New Zealand will be limited to retail sale to affected cohorts. Therefore, affected cohorts will still be able to smoke cigarettes that are supplied by their peers or others who are not in the affected cohort(s). The tobacco-free generation policy in New Zealand will have a longer-term goal of denormalising smoking rather than completely curbing access to tobacco products in the short term.
Nevertheless, it is an interesting policy move that is worth studying further to see if it is appropriate and effective in Singapore’s context.