Greens MP Colleen Hartland described Wooldridge’s comments as “hypocritical,” given the Coalition voted against a private members’ bill introduced by Hartland in 2012 to ban smoking in outdoor areas. The bill did not get the numbers to pass through the house at the time.

Hennessy said the almost two-year period between announcing the ban and implementing it was necessary so that businesses would have enough time to prepare for the changes.

“We want to work with businesses and consult with them to ensure this important reform is introduced and implemented effectively,” she said. “We don’t want to jeopardise jobs.”

However, it will put Victoria behind all other states. New South Wales last month implemented a smoking ban for all commercial outdoor dining areas, including hotels, clubs, restaurants and cafes. Queensland banned smoking in outdoor dining areas in 2006, and the ACT in 2010.

Earlier this year, the Victorian government brought forward bans on smoking within 4m of the entrances to public hospitals and community health services, schools, childcare centres, kindergartens and preschools, and government buildings.

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Anti-smoking groups express concern over two-year delay but health minister says businesses need time to make changes before tobacco ban comes into place

Melissa Davey

Recent statistics by Victorian Cancer Council estimates about 4,000 lives are lost in each state each year due to smoking

Smoking will be banned in the outdoor dining areas of all restaurants, cafes, take-away shops and licensed premises in Victoria, the state’s health minister, Jill Hennessy, announced on Sunday.

But the ban won’t take effect until August 2017, with the government set to consult with health and industry groups over the coming months to flesh out the detail of the reforms.

The post Outdoor areas in Victorian restaurants to be a smoke-free zone from mid-2017 appeared first on Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog.

Customers will be able to dob in a cafe or restaurant that allows smoking in outdoor areas. Source: News Corp Australia

Patrons will be able to dob in pubs or restaurants who don’t crack down on people smoking in outdoor dining areas.

Under the new laws that come into force on July 6 smoking will be banned in all seated outdoor dining areas while food is being served.

The legislation will apply to all ignited smoking products, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes and ­waterpipes.

Authorised inspectors from the Northern Sydney Local Health District and the health department will conduct random inspections of premises and also in ­response to complaints.

From July 6 smoking will be banned in outdoor dining areas in NSW Photo: Adam Yip Source: News Corp Australia

The public will also be able to report if venues aren’t complying with the new laws online or by calling a hotline. Inspectors will be able to issue on the spot fines of $300 for individuals, and penalties of up to $5500 for occupiers who ­ignore the ban.

“It is the responsibility of establishments to ensure, to the best of their ability, that patrons comply,” a Northern Sydney Local Health District spokeswoman said.

However, establishments will be notified if inspectors are going to be checking their premises and there may be a grace period.

“Patrons and venues are expected to comply with the legislation from July 6,” the spokeswoman said.

“However, NSW Health will take a fair and even handed approach to enforcement of the new smoking bans … with the aim of promoting good public health outcomes.”

Northern Sydney Local Health District’s environmental health manager Geoffrey Prendergast said the new laws were an extension of existing bans on smoking at public transport stops, children’s playgrounds and sporting fields.

“NSW Health is working closely with local businesses to help them get ready for smoke-free outdoor dining,” Mr Prendergast said.

Under the laws smoking will also be banned within four metres of a seated dining area on licensed premises, restaurant or cafe, and within 10 metres of a food fair stall.

Customers can dob in a venue at health.nsw.gov.au/smokefree or by calling the Tobacco Information Line on 1800 357 412.

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Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

Smokers in San Francisco can no longer light up in a restaurant’s outdoor seating area.

The law—approved by the city’s Board of Supervisors in March—went into effect this week.

Restaurants must not post signs advising customers they can only smoke at the curb or in a spot that is at least 15 feet from exits, entrances, windows and vents.

Failure to comply could cost restaurants a $500 fine.

Golden Gate Restaurant Association director Kevin Westlye tells the San Francisco Chronicle the group supported the legislation once a requirement that restaurant owners police people smoking in front of their establishments was removed.

Westlye says restaurant owners want to protect their employees and customers from second hand smoke.

The post Smoking on restaurant patios now illegal in SF appeared first on Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog.

Source: Golbal Times

China to ban smoking in indoor public places in 2011 Source: Global Times [16:36 May 10 2010] Comments China is set to implement a ban on smoking in all indoor public places including workplaces and public transport vehicles from January 2011.

Yang Qing, Director General of the Department of Maternal and Child Health and Community Health at China’s Ministry of Health (MOH) says that the ban is being carried out according to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The MOH will ban smoking in its offices this month.

One year ago, the ministry said that all its offices and medical facilities would be smoke-free by 2011.

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Has he printed a retraction to say he was wrong – by about HK$ 18 billion only whilst meanwhile demanding an hourly minimum wage of HK$ 20 ?

Can we trust what the Liberal Party or its non elected Functional Constituency members say or vested interests tell them what to say ?

You decide.

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On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, the volume of total restaurant receipts increased 1.2%.

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Source: South China Morning Post

It is always a pleasure to visit Hong Kong and I felt things would be even better thanks to the smoking ban in pubs and public open spaces. However, I see the law being flouted and it is getting worse. In November there were some incidents, in January a few more, and this month I saw people smoking in so many establishments.

The government seems to be willing to let Hong Kong return to the bad old days. What a shame it will not enforce the law.

There are now several establishments I will not go to because the smoking problem is worse than ever, so at least I’m saving money.

I hope for Hong Kong’s sake the government wakes up before it is too late and the bad old days are back forever.

John Preston, Hawksburn, Victoria, Australia

The post Letters to the Editor: Officials must crack down on smokers appeared first on Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog.

Patrons of bars in Tsim Sha Tsui can ignore the smoking ban as long as no one complains to the Tobacco Control Office - a loophole some bar owners say costs them business.

Updated: February 28, 2010

Source: South China Morning Post

Popular bars on Hong Kong Island are sick of abiding by the smoking ban while competitors in other parts of the city ignore it, and are demanding the government step in.

The owners claim that because they follow the law they are losing customers – while most others ignore the ban and are escaping with their profits intact.

Smoking legislation in Hong Kong, unlike jurisdictions elsewhere in the world, punishes smokers, not bars, for breaches. Rather than bar-owners facing losing their licences for failing to stop patrons from smoking, it is the individual smoker who faces prosecution. This means hundreds of bars are allowing smoking to continue as normal.

The ban was first imposed at the start of 2007 for statutory no-smoking areas. A blanket ban on smoking in all indoor public places was introduced on July 1 last year.

“The government has seen fit to pass a smoking ban, yet do not maintain a level playing field, with only random enforcement,” J. R. Robertson, managing director of El Grande Holdings, said.

The company has a number of bars and restaurants in the city, including the East End Brewery bars in Causeway Bay and Quarry Bay, which have been badly affected by the smoking ban. The bar in Causeway Bay has been the worst hit, with a 35 per cent drop in profit.

Robertson said the legislation had to change – which he thought was unlikely – or the law must be enforced across the board. “Bars here have experienced a huge downturn in business, directly related to the loss of the smoking exemption, but other bars have benefited as they completely ignore the smoking ban. It’s the honest law-abiding people that are getting the brunt of it.”

Kevin McBarron, owner of the Canny Man in Wan Chai, said he would have kept his customers if they knew that they couldn’t go around the corner to another bar to smoke.

“It’s an ineffectual ban that’s actually penalising people who are trying to voluntarily support it,” he said. “When any government writes bad law, people can ignore it. Unfortunately for me, because I rent my place from the Wharney Guang Dong Hotel, it’s all very much by the book here. I don’t have the same flexibility as other places.”

McBarron said his business was down 40 per cent compared to the previous year and he has had to lay off two staff members.

Stanley Lam, manager of the Dickens Bar in the Excelsior Hotel, said business was down at least 20 per cent.

“It’s not fair when other bars can ignore the smoking ban, but we can’t do anything about it,” he said.

The Tobacco Control Office said it does not conduct random checks and only responds to a specific complaint. “We conduct investigations and unannounced inspections, including overnight operations, weekends, and holidays, in response to complaints. From time to time we also conduct joint operations with the police,” a Department of Health spokesman said.

The Sunday Morning Post visited bars in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui last week and found customers and staff smoking freely. One owner of a TST bar was happy to let people smoke because he was not breaking the law.

“We do not have the authority to stop people smoking,” he said. “I tell them that if they are caught smoking they could be fined – that’s all I can do. By law we are doing nothing wrong. About 85 per cent of my customers smoke. If I didn’t allow it I would have to close.”

A Causeway Bay bar owner said it was all down to culture. “It is part of our Chinese lifestyle to smoke. Cigarettes are cheap in Hong Kong and it’s how we socialise, nothing will change this. I don’t care if people light up inside my premises because they are all good customers – there won’t be any complaints,” he said.

The government has proposed measures to tackle smoking in the city, including limiting the number of duty-free cigarettes that an arriving traveller can bring in to 19.

Some bars in central areas flout the smoking ban. In places such as Central and Wan Chai, smokers stand outside premises, but even inside these places people are lighting up because the owners are happy to turn a blind eye.

This happens in establishments above ground level. Instead of going down to the street to light up, customers are allowed to smoke in corridors or out of windows to save the hassle of going outside.

The Tobacco Control Office said that between July 1, 2009, and January 31, 2010, only seven summonses have been or will be issued for smoking in bars; in addition, 53 fixed-penalty tickets have been issued. The office has 99 tobacco control inspectors to enforce the smoking ban.

People caught smoking must pay a HK$1,500 fine within 21 days.

Written by John Carney

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Source: Reuters

GENEVA (Reuters) – Governments must do more to protect workers in bars, restaurants and the entertainment sector from harmful smoke, and curb tobacco advertising and sponsorship, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Developing countries are the new frontier for tobacco companies, which often target women and girls, and smoking rates remain high among poor people in affluent countries, it said.

Tobacco kills more than 5 million people a year from cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, including about 600,000 from second-hand smoke, according to the United Nations agency.

“Most alarming of all, tobacco use is actually increasing in many developing countries. If Big Tobacco is in retreat in some parts of the world, it is on the march in others,” Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, told a meeting to review implementation of a landmark tobacco treaty five years after it came into force.

“As we all know, the tobacco industry is ruthless, devious, rich and powerful,” she said.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, under review at the WHO, is the world’s first and only public health treaty and has been ratified by 168 countries including China.

It obliges governments to protect their populations from exposure to tobacco smoke and reduce demand through price and tax measures, regulating packaging and labelling of tobacco products and curbing tobacco advertising and sponsorship.

SMOKE-FREE LAWS

But WHO monitoring has revealed huge gaps in implementing the treaty.

“For example, just slightly more than 5 percent of the world’s population is protected by national smoke-free laws,” Chan said.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous nation, the United States, and tobacco-producing Zimbabwe are among those that have stayed outside the pact.

Many countries have implemented smoking bans in government buildings and health-care facilities, but have much lower rates in the entertainment and hospitality sectors, a WHO report said.

Tobacco taxes are the most effective way to reduce tobacco use, but only 21 countries have tobacco tax rates greater than 75 percent of the retail price, Chan said.

Fewer than one third of treaty members restrict advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, the WHO says.

Tobacco companies had argued that the treaty threatened the livelihoods of tobacco farmers, advertising revenues, and the survival of restaurants, bars and sporting events, Chan said.

The main threat to fully implementing the treaty remains interference by the tobacco industry, activist groups including Corporate Accountability International said in a statement.

“Big Tobacco promotes its addictive and deadly product to kids with images like Philip Morris’s Marlboro Man, by sponsoring rock concerts and sporting events, and by putting tobacco brand names and logos on everything from T-shirts to patio umbrellas,” they said.

Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro cigarettes and is the world’s largest non-state-owned tobacco firm, declined to comment on Chan’s comments, but said it supported regulation and many of the treaty provisions.

“We really hope the process focuses on implementing effective regulations that work, such as measures to reduce youth smoking and illicit trade in tobacco products, to reduce harm caused by smoking,” spokesman Ben Russell told Reuters.

A British American Tobacco spokesman voiced dismay at the WHO’s unwillingness to talk to the industry.

“The WHO thinks its aims such as encouraging retail display bans and plain packaging will make a difference. There is no evidence to show this – it just drives illicit trade,” he said.

Written by Stephanie Nebehay

(Additional reporting by David Jones in London)

(Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Elizabeth Fullerton)

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16^th Feb, 2010

Smoking outside of restaurants and cafes in a northern Tasmanian city will be banned from next year.

The Launceston Council has voted to ban smoking in on-street dining areas.

Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten says the ban will be effective from January the first next year.

“So that’s a fair way off, we’re giving people the time to work out what it means for the businesses and we need to be aware that with smoking there’s only around about 20 per cent of people smoke,” he said.

“80 per cent have said in a survey they support the stand that council is taking.”

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