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ASH Daily News

31 October 2003

HEADLINES

Dundee smoking ban – could England be next?
UN ban on smoking has Mexico and Russia clearing their throats
Irish vintners threaten to ignore ban
TMA smoking ban survey

FULL TEXT

Dundee smoking ban – could England be next?

The Publican takes a looks at new licensing policy in Dundee that require family pubs to be smoke free, and wonders whether England could be next.

Family pubs could be forced to ban smoking completely after a Scottish licensing board refused to issue children’s certificates to pubs that welcome smokers.

A strict new policy banning smoking in pubs with children’s certificates has been introduced by Dundee’s licensing board.
It means any licensees applying or renewing their certificates will have to agree to be smoke-free.

Pubs with separate children’s rooms could be exempt from the new rule, at the board’s discretion, but those without separate rooms, even those with good ventilation, will be forced to bring in a complete ban on smoking.

Now there are concerns that similar smoking bans could be implemented by other licensing boards across Scotland, as well as by magistrates in England and Wales.

As English law stands at the moment magistrates can impose conditions on children’s certificates issued to pubs. That means they could, in theory, follow Dundee’s example and impose smoking bans on pubs that welcome children.

Full article linked from:
http://www.tobacco.org/news/141876.html
Source: The Publican, 30 October 2003



UN ban on smoking has Mexico and Russia clearing their throats

Mexico has forged a new alliance with Moscow to challenge a common enemy: the recently imposed total ban on smoking on the grounds of UN headquarters.

On Wednesday, a Mexican diplomat, Ernesto Herrera, called on the UN Secretariat to clarify how it set the policy, which goes beyond a General Assembly resolution adopted in 2000 that discouraged smoking but did not ban it. Secretary General Kofi Annan's "no smoking" policy has especially roiled Russia's UN ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, who has continued to smoke in UN headquarters despite Annan's order, which took effect on Sept. 1.

When Herrera raised the issue in the General Assembly's finance committee, a Russian diplomat quickly supported his call asking the Secretariat, which is headed by Annan, to explain why the assembly resolution adopted in 2000 was not being followed.

It reaffirms a ban on smoking in small conference rooms, discourages smoking in large conference rooms and strongly discourages smoking in the areas near those venues. It also encourages those who use UN conference rooms to "avoid exposing nonsmokers to involuntary passive smoking" - but there is no ban.

The secretary of the finance committee, Movses Abelian, a former Armenian ambassador, said the Secretariat would reply.

Annan's new policy bans smoking on all UN premises "for the purpose of eliminating the risks associated with secondhand smoke" and to be consistent with UN World Health Organization principles. A statement issued later by the UN human resources office says smoking is permitted in one outdoor area on UN grounds.

Full IHT coverage:
http://www.iht.com/ihtsearch.php?id=115864
Source: Associated Press, 31 October 2003



Irish vintners threaten to ignore ban

The Irish Times reports that heated opposition to the Irish Government’s plan to ban smoking in public places was expressed at a mass meeting of publicans yesterday, some of whom threatened not to enforce the new law when it comes into force next January.

At a meeting attended by members of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) , there was also a call for a number of radical steps such as withholding payment of VAT, and standing candidates in local elections in protest over the ban – however the VFI executive is unlikely to throw its weight behind such measures.

Under the regulations, due on 26 January 2003, publicans may be fined up to ˆ1,900 for failing to enforce a ban and customers who flout the law around ˆ300.

Source: Irish Times, 29 October 2003



TMA smoking ban survey

The Edinburgh Evening News reports on the recent survey commissioned by the tobacco industry that found that only 17 percent of adults agreed that smoking should be banned in pubs, clubs and bars.

Researchers for the Tobacco Manufacturers Association found that 30 percent of non-smokers and 55 percent of adult smokers had no real concern about cigarette use in pubs, clubs and bars.

But Doreen McIntyre, director of the International Coalition Against Tobacco, said: “People who don’t want to breathe smoke should not be forced to. The hospitality trade is behaving like dinosaurs in this respect . It is the only sector that simply refuses to treat workers health seriously.”

Source: Edinburgh Evening News, 27 October 2003



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