Smoking ban: ‘We need more time’

ABU DHABI // The federal smoking ban will not be fully enforced until bodies such as the Ministry of Health, police and municipalities determine who will be responsible for implementing the various parts of the legislation, senior health officials said yesterday.
The Ministry of Health disclosed some aspects of the law last month, but confusion has arisen over when and how the regulations will be enforced.
The ministry plans to issue an appendix to answer these questions, but has not said when it will do so. The law will take effect when the details are published by the Government.
For instance, it was announced that smoking in a car carrying a child under 12 will be illegal. However, it is hard to say who will enforce such as rule. Is it the police? Or road and transport authorities? Or the municipalities?
Senior health officials working on the law yesterday told The National they were hammering out the details.
“We understand that some people might be confused, as it a very comprehensive law, there are a lot of different points. We will clarify all of these,” said Dr Wedad al Maidoor, the head of the National Tobacco Control Committee.
Dr al Maidoor said she could understand why people and businesses could be confused.
“For every subject there will be an appendix explaining exactly what is means,” she said.
“The law will only become active from the time everything is clarified. It is a complicated law so there is a lot to work out and many different stakeholders to discuss it with.”
She said publicity campaigns would be launched when the appendices were complete.
“We cannot say exactly when these will be but we will make sure people know all about the law.”
Dr Mahmoud Fikri, the ministry’s director of health legislation and policies, added: “Technical committees will be set up to establish exactly how the law will be implemented. We cannot say today that ‘this person will be fined or that person will be fined’ because the implementation discussions have not finished. It would not be right to start giving fines until the public know exactly what they cannot do, and who can enforce it.”One of the main things the ministry is trying to figure out is which agencies will be responsible for enforcing the different elements of the law, Dr Fikri said. It will hold talks with the police, road and transport authorities, municipalities and other health authorities operating in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
It is already known that different parts of the legislation will be implemented at different times.
For example, the ban on shisha cafes or restaurants operating in residential buildings or areas will not be enforced until 2012.
Businesses will be given a grace period until then to relocate.
As well as a ban on smoking in public places, the federal law will govern the sale of cigarettes to minors, the growing of tobacco, the importing of toys that look like cigarettes and tobacco advertising, among other things.
In non-residential restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, cafes and other enclosed public places, designated smoking areas will be allowed but they must adhere to rules about ventilation, location and capacity, all of which will be outlined in the appendix.Hotels will still be allowed to have smoking rooms as long they meet certain criteria. Shops must not sell cigarettes to those under 18 or else face hefty fines.
The law carries fines of up to Dh1 million (US$270,000) and up to two years imprisonment.
Officials are also considering placing graphic photographs of illnesses, such as cancerous tumours, on cigarette packets as some western countries have done, and raising the price of tobacco products.
According to Dr al Maidoor, instituting warnings is a lengthy process because it needs to be dealt with on a GCC-wide level. The new law, however, would make it illegal to import cigarettes that do not carry either written and pictorial warnings.