Anti-smoking inspectors fined 2,291 people for illegally puffing away in the first nine months of the year, the Health Bureau (SSM) said in a statement yesterday.
The bureau did not announce last year its anti-smoking data for the first nine months of 2022.
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 2,291 cases of smoking illegally, according to yesterday’s statement, in the first three quarters of this year the bureau also fined 18 offenders for selling tobacco products with labels that did not comply with the officially required standards, four offenders for bringing e-cigarettes into Macau, two offenders for selling tobacco products by directly displaying them on shelves, and two offenders for selling e-cigarettes. Consequently, the bureau fined a total of 2,317 violators in the first nine months of the year. All four kinds of offences, i.e., the 26 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 current 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. Moreover, travellers are barred from bringing e-cigarettes into and taking them out of Macau.
According to yesterday’s statement, 449 out of the illegal smoking cases reported in the first nine months occurred in restaurants and other eateries, 208 in shops and shopping centres, and 194 in amusement arcades.
In addition, Health Bureau officials in conjunction with Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) inspectors fined 166 violators for illegal smoking in casinos in the first three quarters of this year, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the statement also said that Triangle Garden in Iao Hon district was one of the city’s illegal smoking “black spots” identified by anti-smoking inspectors last month.
This undated handout photo provided by the Health Bureau (SSM) yesterday shows its anti-smoking staff inspecting Triangle Garden in Iao Hon district.
