Published 13 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2824
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2824

News

Legal loophole sees hundreds of Dutch cafes escape smoking ban

Tony Sheldon

1 Utrecht

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The smoking ban in Dutch cafes and restaurants has been partially suspended after a second appeal court ruled that the law does not apply to small cafes that do not employ staff.

Consequently, the health minister Ab Klink has temporarily halted enforcement of the smoking ban on possibly thousands of these smaller cafes run by their owners alone. Checks and fines imposed by the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority will cease until the law is changed, in what is seen as a public health "disaster."

The law remains in force for larger cafes that employ staff.

Mr Klink plans to amend the law, to remove any "lack of clarity" and to create a completely smoke-free hospitality industry "without exceptions." But this must first go before parliament and so cannot come into force until the third week in September.

The move was forced by a judgment from Leeuwarden appeal court, . . . [Full text of this article]


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