PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Cigarette packs must carry pictorial health warnings by Jan 1 in the Government's latest blitz against smokers.

Besides these warnings, the Health Ministry has also embarked on a series of moves targeting smokers including setting a minimum RM6 ($2.50) for a 20-cigarette pack by year-end, extending the list of non-smoking premises, and banning manufacturers from using words such as 'low tar', 'light', 'ultra-light' and 'mild' in their brand packaging with immediate effect.

Its minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said 21 cigarette manufacturers and importers in the country had agreed to this latest ruling.

"By Jan 1, each cigarette brand must have at least two of its products carry these warnings. However, there may still be old stock in the country with the old packaging.

"By next June, all cigarette packs must carry the warnings. Besides these warnings, the packs must print on the side an advisory against selling cigarettes to those aged 18 years and below, and the warning that cigarette smoke contains 4,000 types of chemicals," he told reporters Wednesday at his office here.

There are six sets of pictorial warnings, advising people against smoking by featuring graphic images of mouth cancer, throat cancer and deformed foetuses. There is also an infoline number for smokers who wish to give up smoking.

The pictures on the front of the cigarette packs must cover 40% of the surface, while the ones shown on the back must be 60% in size.

In a survey by the ministry, 21.5% of the adult population or three million adults smoke and among teenagers, some 15% have indicated they have tried smoking and another 8% confessed to being regular smokers.

Liow said with this latest ruling, Malaysia joins another 15 countries which have complied with the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

"In Canada, these warnings have caused half of the smokers to want to quit and in Thailand, 80% of the smokers think these pictures are effective.

"Over the past 10 years, we have managed to reduce the number of smokers in Malaysia by 2% through our various campaigns. We are definitely not happy with that," he said.

Liow said national service camps would be made non-smoking premises immediately while smokers would no longer be allowed to indulge their habit along the corridors surrounding shopping malls and complexes.

On setting the minimum price for a 20-cigarette pack, the minister said the price would be adjusted each time the Government announced additional taxes and charges in the Budget. "The Attorney-General's office is now in the process of gazetting the minimum price," he said, adding that anyone who failed to comply with the latest rulings could be fined up to RM10,000 or jailed two years or both.

Liow also said for this year alone, the ministry had compounded 2,622 smokers with fines totalling RM564,000 and charged another 1,946 smokers in court for various offences.