Anti-smoking inspectors fined 1,532 people for illegally puffing away in the first six months of the year, the Health Bureau (SSM) said in a statement yesterday.
The 1,532 cases of smoking illegally recorded in the first half of this year represented a year-on-year increase of 66.9 percent from the same period of last year, when 918 cases were reported.
The number of 918 cases recorded in the first half of 2022 was announced in an SSM statement in August last year.
In Macau, smoking is banned in all indoor public venues and facilities, except smoking lounges in casinos and at the airport. In addition, smoking is also prohibited within a 10-metre-area of all public bus stops.
Illegal smoking carries a fixed fine of 1,500 patacas.
Moreover, smoking is only permitted in designated areas of public parks, gardens and recreational areas.
In addition to the 1,532 cases of smoking illegally, according to yesterday’s statement, in the first half of this year the bureau also fined 15 offenders for selling tobacco products with labels that did not comply with the officially required standards, two offenders for selling tobacco products by directly displaying them on shelves, and one offender for selling e-cigarettes. Consequently, the bureau fined a total of 1,550 violators in the first six months of the year. All three kinds of offences, i.e., the 18 violations, are each punishable by a fixed fine of 4,000 patacas.
The sale of e-cigarettes has been banned in Macau since January 2018. The newly-amended version of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Law, which took effect on December 5 last year, also bans the manufacture, distribution, import and export of e-cigarettes, in addition to the ban on their sale in the city.
According to yesterday’s statement, 312 out of the illegal smoking cases reported in the first six months occurred in restaurants and other eateries, while 136 occurred in shops and shopping centres.
Illegal smoking in casinos up 177.4 pct
In addition, Health Bureau officials in conjunction with Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) inspectors fined 86 violators for illegal smoking in casinos in the first half of this year, the statement said.
The 86 illegal smoking cases in casinos recorded in the first half of this year represented a year-on-year increase of 177.4 percent from last year’s corresponding period, when only 31 cases were reported.
This undated handout photo provided by the Health Bureau (SSM) yesterday shows its anti-smoking staff inspecting Reservoir Park, the public park surrounding the peninsula’s reservoir.
