Starting on Sept. 1, smoking will be banned on covered walkways outside 15 convenience store and coffee shop chains in Taipei, the Department of Health announced yesterday.
The five convenience store chains are 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life, OK Mart and Simple Mart, and the 10 chain coffee shops are Starbucks Coffee (星巴克), 85°C Daily Cafe (85度C), Louisa Coffee (路易莎), Mr Brown Cafe (伯朗), Dante Coffee (丹堤), Ikari Coffee (怡客), Barista Coffee (西雅圖), Cama Cafe, Crown&Fancy and Peter Better Cafe (彼得好).
Offenders are to be fined between NT$2,000 and NT$10,000, according to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法).
Photo: CNA
Under current regulations, there are few outdoor spaces where smoking is banned, Department of Health Commissioner Huang Shier-chieg (黃世傑) said, adding that these do not include roofed sidewalks, pedestrian arcades and often-crowded public spaces.
The department lists a total of 2,569 outdoor spaces as non-smoking areas, including 24 parks and green spaces in the city, he said.
However, following a survey by the Taipei Research, Development and Evaluation Commission in May that showed 87.1 percent of city residents support the idea of banning smoking on roofed sidewalks in front of convenience stores and cafes, the department decided to work with the 15 companies to expand the ban, he said.
Sun Li-chang (孫立強), a manager at an Ikari Coffee outlet, said that customers sometimes smoke in front of the store, but when the smoke seeps in, customers inside the store would “roll their eyes at the store clerks” or even ask them to go and stop the smokers.
It is hard to please all customers, Sun added.
The ban will allow them to clearly ask people not to smoke in front of the store, which could make for a more pleasant atmosphere for all customers to enjoy their coffee, he said.
Hsu Hung-wen (許鴻文), a manager at a Hi-Life outlet, said that staff often receive customer complaints about “having to hold their breath when going in and out of the store” because there are people smoking on roofed sidewalks outside, so they are also happy to cooperate with the department on the ban.
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