Advertising stickers promoting illicit cigarettes have appeared in public spaces in several parts of Hong Kong, with three district councillors urging authorities to step up law enforcement and removal efforts for such advertisements, including those targeting teens.

Community Development Pulsation, a non-profit group promoting sustainable development in the city, said on Tuesday there had also been a rise in complaints in the past fortnight about promotional fliers for illegal cigarettes being distributed at public housing estates.

Group member Leung Ka-wai, who is also a Sha Tin district councillor, said the advertising stickers were posted in bus stations, at rubbish collection points, in toilets in shopping centres and on the back of the seats in buses and minibuses in Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, North district and Tuen Mun.

“Take one sticker as an example, its design is quite pretty. There is a picture of a beautiful girl and it is very colourful,” he said, adding that there were also two “hotline numbers” for placing orders written on it.

“It states that delivery service can be provided throughout Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, with ‘free samples given’ and ‘pretty girls taking phone calls’. These words are basically a sales pitch to lure teenagers.”

Leung also said the ads promoted a bundle consisting of 10 packs of cigarettes, sold at HK$350 (US$45).

“A pack of their cigarettes is even lower than the current amount of tobacco duty. There is no reason for the seller to do business that loses money,” he said.

“In other words, the advertisement is promoting illicit cigarettes.”

The circulation of tobacco advertisements in printed publications, public spaces, in films or on the internet is illegal in Hong Kong. If convicted, offenders face a maximum fine of HK$50,000 and a further penalty of HK$1,500 for each day that the offence is perpetuated.

The Department of Health’s Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office on Tuesday seized three smoking product display boxes from two stores in Sham Shui Po on suspicion of displaying smoking product advertisements.

The office took down more than 1,900 websites, social media accounts and posts featuring adverts for smoking products between January 2023 and June of this year, a spokesman said.

The office also issued 123 summons and 42 warning letters over the same period, he added.

Smokers must pay a tobacco duty of HK$66 for a pack of 20 cigarettes, with each packet costing more than HK$90.

Authorities raised the tobacco tax by 60 HK cents and 80 HK cents per cigarette over two consecutive years from 2023.

The measures aim to lower the city’s smoking rate to 7.8 per cent in 2025 from the 9.1 per cent recorded last year.

Leung urged the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office to ramp up law enforcement efforts, adding that his group would hand over information on the advertisements.

Fellow NGO member and Sha Tin district councillor Wong Yue-hon said authorities should be “more proactive” in enforcing the law, adding that more young people might be enticed to deliver illicit cigarettes for money during the summer holidays.

“They should not simply crack down on illicit cigarettes at source or only crack down on big cases and let the small cases go,” he said.

Wong said the promotional leaflets provided contact numbers, which could be used by the government to trace and arrest couriers involved in the illegal business.

“With fewer couriers, the sellers may find it difficult to distribute the goods, which can be an effective way to crack down on them,” he said.

Lam Yu-sing, also a member of Community Development Pulsation and a Sha Tin district councillor, said that the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office was mainly responsible for law enforcement and officers might not consider it their remit to remove the advertisements after receiving complaints.

He added that it might take “a long time” for relevant government departments to remove the advertisements and urged for stronger collaboration between agencies.

Members of the non-profit group also said the government should impose a ban on flavoured cigarettes “in phases” to prevent a boost in illegal cigarette sales.

Authorities should first introduce measures targeting illicit cigarettes such as imposing a duty-paid labelling system and stricter penalties for offences before banning other tobacco products, they suggested.