The toughest antismoking legislation in China’s history came into effect yesterday in Beijing, with unprecedented fines and a hotline to report offenders, but fears of weak enforcement.
The law makes smoking in offices, restaurants, hotels and hospitals illegal, with venues where the ban is flouted subject to fines of up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,600). Venues which repeatedly ignore the law could have their licenses revoked, while individuals caught smoking in prohibited zones could be fined as much as 200 yuan.
As well as indoor smoking, the law prohibits lighting up in some open-air spaces close to schools, hospitals and sports venues.
Photo: AFP
Despite a government awareness campaign that saw posters detailing the law displayed in restaurants and offices around the city, many doubt authorities will implement it effectively.
Nightclubs had been singled out as a potential problem area, Beijing Tobacco Control Association president Zhang Jianshu told the China Daily newspaper.
“The key lies in the business owners,” the paper quoted Zhang as saying yesterday. “They have the responsibility to ensure no smoking within their establishments.”
The measure “fails to make clear who is ultimately responsible,” for implementation, leaving the possibility that authorities will “pass the buck to each other,” state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Daily said.
Health commission inspectors are to be in charge of enforcing the law, carrying out spot checks and acting on tips from the public. Posters in the capital advertise a hotline number for tips, and the city government has launched a social media account allowing observers to upload images of smokers caught in the act.
However, some restaurants visited by reporters yesterday were unaware of the regulations.
“I have not heard of the specific law banning smoking, but we follow all rules and regulations,” a Beijing noodle shop manager surnamed Chen (陳) said.
Some eateries said they wanted to enforce the law, though it could hurt business.
“We normally allow people to smoke inside at night, but we are going start stopping them from tonight,” said Zhang Lin, a manager at a Japanese restaurant. “Some people might be very unhappy though, and after all, the customer is god.”
Other businesses had set up outdoor seating in order to provide space for people to smoke.
However, waiters said they were unsure what would happen during Beijing’s freezing winter months.
The law — limited to the capital — is not China’s first such effort.
A similar nationwide measure was passed in 2011, albeit without financial sanctions, and implementation was lackluster.
Environmental and safety laws in China are often openly flouted because of limited official oversight, or corruption in the form of bribes to law enforcers.
Cigarettes remain cheap, with packs often costing less than 5 yuan, and some Chinese experts say the Beijing law still does not go far enough.
“The new regulation should require tobacco producers to print a warning on cigarette packages,” China Daily quoted the vice director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention as saying.
A barrier to imposing similar measures across the nation is the continued clout of China’s state-run tobacco industry, which provides the government with colossal amounts of money — 911 billion yuan in taxes and profits last year, an increase of 12 percent year-on-year.
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