UAE to push for blanket ban on smoking in public spaces
Visitors at IQUIT stand during the No Tobacco Day Event in Ministry of
Health and Prevention, Dubai.
 National
committee to propose abolition of designated smoking areas
The UAE is pushing for a blanket ban on smoking in public spaces which will
see the removal of designated smoking areas in malls, restaurants,
workplaces and other public areas, an official said on Tuesday.
The National Tobacco Control Committee of the UAE will make a proposal to
amend the Federal Tobacco Control Law and its bylaws for making public
spaces 100 per cent smoke-free, Dr Wedad Al Maidour, a member of the
committee and the head of Tobacco Control Programme at the Ministry of
Health and Prevention, told reporters.
She was speaking at the launch of a mobile smoking cessation clinic held to
mark World No Tobacco Day.
According to the World Health Organisation, she said, the UAE, a member of
the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is still in a red zone
with regard to taxation of tobacco products and prevention of smoking in
public areas.
“They are pushing us to change the law from having designated smoking areas
to 100 per cent smoke-free areas in public spaces,” said Dr Al Maidour.
Hence, she said, the committee is planning to propose an amendment to the
federal anti-tobacco law and its bylaws by the end of this year. “We will
have to present the proposal to the PMO [Prime Minister’s Office],” she
said.
A blanket ban would mean complete prohibition on smoking in all public
buildings and areas. Also, smokers will have the freedom of taking a puff
only in private buildings and homes.
Most public areas in the UAE are already smoke-free, Dr Al Maidour said.
“But, we are still allowing people to smoke in designated areas and
restaurants. That needs to be stopped in order for us to change our status
from the red zone,” she noted.
Under existing laws, there is already a provision for members of the public
to volunteer and report people violating anti-smoking rules. Though health
officials had announced that smokers caught red-handed by these undercover
agents would be fined Dh500, a timeframe for the implementation of the
system has not been announced. The law also prohibits smoking in the company
of children under the age of 12 in cars. A violation of that rule also
attracts a fine of Dh500.
Dr Al Maidour said the implementation of a blanket ban, once approved, would
be a laborious task for the enforcement agencies in various emirates. She
noted that some of the northern emirates still lag behind in implementing
various primary clauses of the federal laws.
“We are happy with how the Dubai Municipality is implementing the laws….We
need to focus more on the northern emirates…They have different entities in
charge of enforcing tobacco control regulations. We are going to meet them
and form a focus group to chalk out stricter enforcement in those emirates.”
What blanket ban on smoking in public areas means:
- All public buildings and spaces to go smoke-free
- No designated smoking areas in malls, restaurants, workplaces
- Smoking limited to private buildings and homes
- Warning signs
- Bigger pictorial warnings in cigarette packs by 2017
Bigger pictorial warnings on cigarette packages in the UAE will be
implemented by next year.
This was announced by a senior official at a World No Tobacco Day event on
Tuesday.
The GCC countries are planning to increase the customs and excise tax on
cigarettes and put bigger pictorial warnings on cigarette packets to
discourage smokers, said Dr. Wedad Al Maidour, a member of the National
Tobacco Control Committee and head of Tobacco Control Programme at the
Ministry of Health and Prevention.
She said the new regulations to implement pictorial warnings covering 70 per
cent of cigarette packets will be implemented in the UAE by 2017.
“Currently, the pictorial warnings cover 50 per cent of the cigarette
packets sold here. We want cigarette companies to increase it to 70 per cent
of the package,” she said.
As per the new rules, no adjectives that make cigarettes more appealing will
be allowed on the packages. The GCC committee has already shortlisted five
pictorial warnings and it is now up to the member countries to force the
companies that sell cigarettes in their jurisdiction to implement them, said
Dr. Al Maidour.
She said discussions are also on regarding the implementation of plain
packaging which is the World Health Organisation’s theme for this year’s No
Tobacco Day under the slogan ‘Get ready for plain packaging’.
According to the WHO, plain packaging of tobacco products restricts or
prohibits the use of logos, colours, brand images and promotional
information on packaging other than brand and product names displayed in a
standard colour and font style.
In December 2012, Australia became the first country to fully implement
plain packaging. Earlier this month, France and the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland each began implementation of plain packaging.
Ireland is also preparing to introduce the measure, while other countries
are exploring the option.
Taxation and e-cigarette
Regarding taxation, Dr Al Maidour said a GCC-wide proposal for a 100 per
cent hike in customs duty on cigarettes was yet to be implemented. “There is
a push for implementing that soon. But that is not enough. We want to impose
excise tax also on cigarettes. Then only will smokers slowly start feeling
the pinch and will be discouraged from buying cigarettes. Starting with a 30
per cent excise duty will also be fine, with an increase in that every
two-three years.”
The official also ruled out the possibility of the UAE legalising the sale
of e-cigarettes. Currently, the import and sale of e-cigarettes is banned
here.
Dr Al Maidour said the committee officials had met members of the Emirates
Standardisation and Metrology Authority which had reportedly sought to know
the standards and specifications for e-cigarettes from the World Trade
Organisation, a move that followed the legal acceptance of e-cigarettes in
the UK.
“We have convinced them that we cannot approve e-cigarettes based on the
studies that the UK took into consideration. They were funded by tobacco
companies…We still don’t have proof that e-cigarettes are harmless and they
are not yet approved as a way to quit smoking,” she explained.
May 31, 2016
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