The government is proposing several amendments to Macau’s anti-smoking law. Key changes include expanding the smoking ban to more outdoor public areas, prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes in all public spaces, and allowing anti-smoking inspectors to be equipped with body-worn video cameras (body cams).
The Health Bureau (SSM) has launched a 32-day public consultation on proposed amendments to Macau’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Law, which was announced during a press conference on its premises adjacent to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre on Friday.
The public consultation, which started on Sunday, is running until April 8, during which a session for members of the general public will be held on Thursday next week.
The public consultation document, available in Chinese and Portuguese, can be downloaded from the consultation’s dedicated website (https://www.ssm.gov.mo/portal1/tc_consult).
Amendments to laws proposed by the government must be passed by the legislature to take effect.
After the completion of the ongoing public consultation process, the government will assess the opinions and suggestions gathered during the process, draft an amendment bill, and submit it to the legislature for debate, review and vote.
During Friday’s press conference, SSM Deputy Director Cheang Seng Ip delivered a speech outlining the government’s proposed amendments to the anti-smoking law and its rationale for proposing the amendments, after which Lam Chong, who heads the bureau’s Tobacco and Alcohol Prevention and Control Office, presented details on the matter listed in the public consultation document.
After the Tobacco Prevention and Control Law came into force in 2012, it was amended in 2018 and 2022.
According to the current version of Macau’s anti-smoking law, 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 in certain outdoor public areas such as public parks and gardens, public beaches, footbridges, pedestrian underpasses, and within 10 metres of all public bus stops.
Illegal smoking carries a fixed fine of 1,500 patacas.
Smoking ban outside schools and crèches
The consultation document proposes to newly list outdoor areas within 10 metres of the entrances to the city’s schools and crèches as statutory no-smoking zones.
The document notes that with the aim of better protecting children from exposure to second-hand smoke, the Health Bureau rolled out a smoking ban in outdoor areas within 10 metres of the entrances to three schools and a crèche on November 24 last year, where those violating the smoking ban are fined 1,500 patacas. The document notes that after assessing the implementation of the smoking ban at these four pilot sites, the government is now proposing to newly classify outdoor areas within 10 metres of the entrances to all schools and crèches as statutory no-smoking zones.
During the press conference, Lam noted that according to the current version of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Law, the Health Bureau can, on a case-by-case basis, designate additional outdoor public areas as statutory no-smoking zones beyond those listed in the law after obtaining the green light from the respective public entities governing the areas concerned. Consequently, Lam said, the outdoor areas within 10 metres of the entrances to the three schools and the crèche are also statutory no-smoking zones so that those smoking there face a fine of 1,500 patacas.
Lam noted that after the government-proposed amendments to the anti-smoking law take effect in the future, the Health Bureau will no longer need to obtain the green light from the respective public entities to designate outdoor areas outside additional schools and crèches as statutory no-smoking zones on a case-by-case basis.
Govt proposes to ban smoking on streets on case-by-case basis
The document notes the current implementation of a pilot no-smoking zone on pavements around Dr. Carlos D’Assumpção Park in Nape, which started last month.
The pilot no-smoking zone is implemented on the pavements outside Dr. Carlos D’Assumpção Park, the pavements outside nine buildings on Alameda Dr. Carlos D’Assumpção, i.e., the two-way avenue outside Dr. Carlos D’Assumpção Park, and the recreational area located between the park and the waterfront Kun Iam statue. Smokers can smoke at the nine designated smoking spots set up in the pilot Dr. Carlos D’Assumpção Park no-smoking zone.
As streets in general are not statutory no-smoking zones and the Dr. Carlos D’Assumpção Park no-smoking zone is being implemented on a pilot basis, those smoking in the zone will not be fined and instead they will merely be urged by anti-smoking inspectors not to smoke there.
In line with the experience from the current implementation of the pilot Dr. Carlos D’Assumpção Park no-smoking zone, the consultation document also proposes that after listening to public opinion and from the respective public entities governing the areas concerned, the government can designate certain streets and squares with dense pedestrian flows as statutory no-smoking zones on a case-by-case basis, through the promulgation of a chief executive order, with the aim of better addressing the issue where non-smokers are affected by those smoking while walking.
Govt proposes to bar smoking e-cigarettes in all public spaces
Moreover, the consultation document also proposes to bar smoking e-cigarettes in all public spaces
The 2018 amendments to the anti-smoking law barred the sale of e-cigarettes in Macau. The 2022 amendments to the law further toughened the regulations on e-cigarettes. Since December 2022, Macau has barred the manufacture, distribution, sale, import and export of e-cigarettes. In addition, travellers are barred from bringing e-cigarettes into and taking them out of Macau.
The consultation document notes that as the toughened regulations on e-cigarettes have been in force for over three years, e-cigarettes’ related products, including e-liquid and pods, held by people, theoretically, should have already been used up. However, the government says it still detects the use of e-cigarettes in Macau due to various reasons, such as the ease of purchasing them in neighbouring regions, and the small size of e-cigarettes making it easier for travellers to smuggle them into Macau without being detected by the authorities.
Consequently, according to the document, the government is proposing to bar the possession of e-cigarettes in all public spaces. The document notes that the practice of smoking e-cigarettes in public spaces will be regarded as possessing such items there.
Health Bureau (SSM) Deputy Director Cheang Seng Ip (centre) speaks during Friday’s press conference as Lam Chong (left), who heads the bureau’s Tobacco and Alcohol Prevention and Control Office, and Rui Amaral, a legal advisor to the bureau, look on. – Photo: Tony Wong
