Current Situation of Law and Regulation for Banning Smoking in Public Places in China / 环境与健康杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To understand the making of laws and regulations for banning smoking in the public places in big cities in China and to provide the reference for making a national code.Methods The methods of literature search and review were employed,as well as questionnaire survey.Results 45.7% of the big cities had the relevant local laws and(or)regulations and 10.4% of the codes were issued by the local People's Congress,1.3% by the other institutions.Definitions used in the local legal and regulatory codes are different.Of the local legal and regulatory codes,17.4% involved four to six types of the public places,68.7% involved seven to eight types and 13.9% involved nine to ten types.Among the codes,8.6% provided that smoke ban inspector should be appointed by the authority in charge,31.9% required the department where smoking is banned to appoint the inspector,58.6% did not request the appointment at all.As for the violating law unit,9.6% of the codes issued a fine of 5-500 Yuan,20.0% issued a fine of 500-1 000 Yuan,10.4% issued a fine of 1 000-2 000 Yuan and 9.6% issued a fine of 2 000-5 000 Yuan.As for the violating law individual,12.1% of the codes issued a 1-5 Yuan fine,22.4% issued a 5-10 Yuan and 10.3% issued a 20-100 Yuan.In 5.8% of the big cities,the codes were revised.Conclusion Up to now,there is no a national law for banning smoking in the public places in China.The effect of the local laws and regulations on banning smoking in the public places is not satisfactory.China still has a long way to go in controlling smoking in the public places compared with the advanced countries.