Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, who is also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council, has announced that the government has finished drafting a bill that proposes to ban the sale of alcoholic drinks to minors, i.e., those under the age 18.
Currently while there is a legal ban on the sale of cigarettes to those under the age of 18 in Macau, there is no legal ban on selling them alcoholic beverages.
Cheong made the announcement during a press conference at Government Headquarters on Friday.
The bill will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in due course for debate, review and vote.
The government carried out a public consultation in late 2020 on a possible ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks to minors.
Addressing Friday’s press conference, Cheong pointed out that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages is “seriously” harmful to health, particularly for physically and psychologically immature young people, because of which, Cheong said, the government had decided to draft the bill, officially known as Law on the Prevention and Control on Minors’ Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages.
According to Cheong, the bill proposes that alcoholic drinks subject to the proposed sale ban will be defined as those with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of over 1.2 percent, meaning that minors would still be allowed to buy drinks with an ABV of up to 1.2 percent.
The bill proposes that alcoholic beverages will be prohibited from being sold or provided to those under the age of 18 at public venues, Cheong said.
The bill also proposes that those below 18 will be barred from selling alcoholic drinks at public venues.
More specifically, according to Cheong, the bill proposes to bar anyone from hiring minors to sell alcoholic beverages or from telling them to provide such drinks at public venues. In addition, Cheong said, the bill also proposes to bar minors from “engaging in self-employment activities” that sell alcoholic drinks at public venues.
In addition, Cheong said, the bill proposes to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors through any “remote” means, such as online shopping and courier services.
According to Cheong, the bill also proposes that a notice prohibiting the sale or provision of alcoholic drinks to those under the age of 18 must be displayed in clearly visible locations at any venues selling or providing such beverages.
Moreover, Cheong said, the bill proposes that minors shall not drink alcoholic beverages at public venues.
20,000-pataca fine
The bill proposes that those selling alcoholic beverages to minors at public venues will be fined 20,000 patacas. According to Cheong, the proposed 20,000-pataca fine will also cover those “providing alcoholic drinks to minors at public venues for commercial purposes”.
During Friday’s press conference, reporters asked about the feasibility of the implementation of the proposed ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors through online shopping. Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long said that the implementation would not be difficult and complicated, adding that online-shopping websites selling alcoholic drinks will be required to clearly display a warning notice prohibiting the sale of such beverages to those aged below 18.
In addition, Lo said, those buying alcoholic beverages on online-shopping platforms will be required to confirm and declare that they are aged at least 18.
