With the approach of World Expo 2010, Shanghai is now adopting stricter rules for smokers.
It is reported that compared with the old rule that was promulgated in 1994, the new rule has added more areas for the control of tobacco. It states that smoking shall be banned from both the indoor and outdoor areas of kindergartens, nurseries, schools, youth activity centers, women's hospitals, children's hospitals and children's foster homes. Furthermore, no smoking will be allowed in the indoor areas of medical institutions, gymnasia, libraries, theaters, exhibition halls, art museums, memorial halls, archive rooms, and netcafes.
In addition, the new rule states that smoking shall be banned in other public areas such as the public areas of government departments, the business areas of financial institutions, supermarkets, shopping malls, elevators, buses, taxis, waiting rooms of public transportation centers, and indoor platforms.
The new rule also defines the subjects for tobacco control law-enforcement. It states that all the venues concerned shall be responsible for banning smoking in their venue. The health promotion department shall work with all other departments involved to assess the success of tobacco control and release the results to the public annually. Volunteers and other social organizations and individuals shall be encouraged to join the tobacco control campaign. To this end, the city will recruit over 10,000 people to supervise the control of tobacco.
The new rule states that individuals who insist on smoking in no-smoking areas will be fined CNY50-200. Venues violating the rule will be fined CNY2,000 to CNY10,000 if they fail to correct their non-compliance within given deadline and these serious violators will be fined CNY10,000 to CNY30,000.
Ding Wei, the deputy director of the Legal Work Commission of Shanghai People's Congress, has stated that the new rule will adopt classified management for venues while paying attention to the feasibility and sustainability of any future laws.
Statistics from Shanghai's health department show that about 30.2% of the population smoke in Shanghai, which is lower than the national average of 35.85%, but is still far above other regions such as Singapore where smokers only account for 12.6% of the total population.
