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HEALTH Minister Khaw Boon Wan will ask the National Environment Agency to look into extending the outdoor smoking ban to common areas in HDB estates, such as void decks, lift lobbies and corridors.
He will so after a suggestion from Ms Ellen Lee (Sembawang GRC). She told the House about one of her constituents who sought her help after his pregnant wife suffered from second-hand smoke because their neighbour refused to stop smoking in the common corridor.
Several other MPs highlighted the dangers of second-hand smoke. Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) wanted more protection for children.
The Health Ministry’s move to ban misleading labelling on cigarette packages worried Mr Alvin Yeo (Hong Kah GRC).
He asked if the ban on terms such as “mild” and “light” would extend to trademarks containing those terms, and if such a ban would be in conflict with Singapore’s obligations under international intellectual property (IP) law.
Such a ban could be seen as an infringement of the proprietors’ rights to the use of their trademarks, he said.
Singapore would then be in non-compliance with its international IP law obligations, such as the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips).
Mr Khaw confirmed that the ban would affect trademarks containing misleading descriptors.
The Government was aware of Trips and other international obligations, and had consulted the relevant authorities extensively on this point.
The ban would not violate Singapore’s international obligations, he said.
Singapore was also in good company in banning misleading terms: the European Union prohibited misleading terms and descriptors, even if they were part of trademarks or brand names.
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