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• Dutch govt to change smoking law after court defeat 

The Dutch government vowed Friday to change the law to keep bars smoke free after it suffered two successive defeats in court against bar owners challenging a smoking ban.

A cabinet statement said the government would introduce changes to legislation in order to make sure that "a uniform obligation" applied to all.

Dutch bar owners won two victories earlier this year in their fight against a smoking ban on their premises.

Two different courts found that the law, aimed at protecting staff from second-hand smoke inhalation, unfairly discriminated against small, one-man operations . . .

The cabinet said the planned changes would make allowances for the introduction of "innovative air sytstems" if they could be proven effective enough to be an alternative to a dedicated smoking area in small bars.

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• Netherlands' 'little brown bars' buck antismoking regulations 

Smokers have found some friendly legislative ground in the Netherlands.

A series of district court decisions, one most recently handed down in July, has partially rolled back a 2008 smoking ban, allowing customers in thousands of small bars to once again light up at their barstools.

Removing ashtrays from bar counters has become standard practice in the West in recent years, as governments from both sides of the Atlantic seek to shield citizens from the health hazards of smoke.

The decisions were made in favor of a beloved Dutch institution, the "bruin cafe," or brown bar.

Dutch cities are dotted with these hole-in-the-wall bars, often run by an individual or small group of owners who have no need to hire employees. They are engines of local gossip and connection. Popular lore has it that the "brown bar" moniker was earned due to walls stained by layers of tobacco smoke.

The legal reasoning behind lifting the ban was that, since these bars don't have employees, no one is being involuntarily put at risk by exposure to smoke.

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• Legal loophole sees hundreds of Dutch cafes escape smoking ban 

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.

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• Netherlands suspends tobacco inspections in small bars  

The Dutch government has dropped spot checks on smoking in small cafes after bar owners won two legal victories in their fight against a ban on their premises, the health minister said Wednesday.

Ab Klink said in a letter to members of parliament that action taken to fine offenders had also been suspended temporarily.

Appeal courts at Leeuwarden in the north and Den Bosch in the south have found in favour of landlords of cafes, restaurants and hotels without staff, who said the law did not oblige them to implement a smoking ban.

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• Dutch bar owners win new victory in fight against smoking ban 

Dutch bar owners won a new victory in their fight against a smoking ban on their premises when an appeal court cleared two of them of breaking the law and quashed a 1,200 euro fine.

"The law contains no formal obligation for landlords of cafes, restaurants and hotels without staff to implement a smoking ban," the appeal court at Leeuwarden in the northern Netherlands said in a statement.

It overturned the verdict handed down in a lower court against the pair from Groningen who became the first to be prosecuted following the introduction of the nationwide ban a year ago.

In May the appeals court of Den Bosch, in the southern Netherlands, upheld the acquittal of the two owners of the Victoria cafe in Breda, near the Belgian border.

"The court finds that the (ban) is partly non-binding, as it lacks legal grounding" regarding establishments with no staff, said a court statement.

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• Big tobacco pays Dutch opposition to smoking ban 

Ton Wurtz, treasurer of the foundation 'Red de kleine horecaondernemer' (Save the small hospitality entrepreneur), has admitted to receiving "about 50,000 euros per year" from the tobacco companies. Wurtz also holds biweekly strategy talks with Willem Jan Roelofs, the chairman of the cigarette industry foundation SSI, he said.

Smoking was banned in cafes, bars, hotels and restaurants in The Netherlands a year ago. Just before the ban went into effect on July 1, 2008, Wurtz, who has been the spokesperson for a foundation that stands up for smokers since 1993, and other seasoned tobacco lobbyists established the foundation to represent the interests of small cafe owners.

The smoking ban was primarily adopted to guarantee the right of employees to work in a smoke-free environment. But critics say small bars, with no employees except the owners, should be exempt from the ban. Several court cases are underway against cafes that defied the ban.

The law firm representing the small cafe owners has been negotiating with the tobacco industry about the possibility of it bankrolling future lawsuits challenging the smoking ban. . . .

"We are talking to several parties about financing a procedure, SSI amongst them," Marco Gerritsen of the Van Diepen Van der Kroef law firm confirmed. "They haven't promised anything yet."

SSI's is a collaboration between British American Tobacco (Pall Mall), Imperial Tobacco (Gauloises) and Japan Tobacco International (Camel); Philip Morris (Marlboro) left the group in 2005. Tobacco companies fear a decline of 5 percent of sales because of the smoking ban in bars. Roelofs: "That is a substantial loss in an already contracting market." He denied the SSI has any intention to finance future court cases.

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• Small Dutch bars cannot be held to smoking ban: appeals court 

A Dutch appeals court ruled Tuesday that small bars with no staff except their owners are exempt from a national smoking ban introduced for the hospitality industry last July.

The appeals court of Den Bosch, in the southern Netherlands, found two owners of the Victoria cafe in Breda, near the Belgian border, not guilty of having contravened the ban.

"The court finds that the (ban) is partly non-binding, as it lacks legal grounding" regarding establishments with no staff, said a court statement.

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• Smokers may boost cancer chances by eating fruit and veggies 

Smokers may increase their chances of contracting colon cancer by eating fruit and vegetables, according to a new Europe-wide scientific study said Wednesday.

A high intake of fruit and vegetables appeared to reduce the risk among non-smokers but seemed to have the reverse effect on smokers, findings by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) showed.

"People who eat 600 grammes or more vegetables and fruit a day appear to have a 20 to 25 percent lower chance of developing colon cancer than people who eat 220 grammes or less," said the statement.

"For smokers, the consumption of vegetables and fruit appears, on the contrary, to increase the chances of colon cancer. Protection against colon cancer through the consumption of vegetables and fruit therefore appears to depend on smoking habits." . . .

RIVM official Hans Verhagen told AFP this did not mean that smokers should stop eating their greens.

"On the contrary, the conclusion is to: 'Please stop smoking'", he said.

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• Court spares small Dutch cafe over smoking ban 

Dutch court on Friday rejected a bid by prosecutors to punish a small cafe for defying the smoking ban, arguing it was too small to be subject to the country's tough restrictions.

The Victoria cafe, in Breda, near the Belgian border, escaped prosecution demands for a 1,200-euro (1,600-dollar) fine and closure for a month, after the court decided the prosecution was unjustified. . . .

Several thousand small bars and cafes in the Netherlands united in late 2008 to flaunt the smoking ban and create a joint legal defense fund, arguing that they lacked the floorspace and money to erect separate smoking-only areas.

In its ruling, the court said it was likely that smokers would go to the bigger cafes that could afford separate smoking areas, which could lead to a big drop income for the smaller venues.

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• Bar owners face fine for flouting Dutch smoking ban  

THE HAGUE - Brothers Gerhard and Ronald Sannes, owners of Cafe de Kachel in Groningen in the north of the country, appeared before a district court in the same city where they admitted one count of contravening the oft-flouted law.

"We asked for a fine of 1,200 euros and a probation period of one year, during which time the bar will be closed for a month for any further contravention," prosecution spokeswoman Kerstin Smit told AFP.

The bar had been caught contravening the ban on six occasions, she said.

Gerhard Sannes told AFP the ban, which came into effect last July, created an unfair competition advantage for bigger establishments.

"We have a small bar with no extra space in which to build a smoking section.

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• Dutch court closes pub for defying smoking ban 

Dutch judges are closing a cafe for a month for allowing its patrons to smoke.

It's the first case to be brought to court since smoking was banned in restaurants July 1.

The court fined the owners of the Kachel Cafe in the northern town of Groningen euro1,200 ($1,535) after they ignored six warnings. The cafe had argued it was too small to provide a separate smoking area.

Small bars and cafes report business has fallen 30 percent since July. Many are reportedly defying the ban.

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• Group slams smoking ban  

The pressure group, Clean Air Netherlands, says the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants has so far been a failure. It maintains a majority of bars are not observing the new legislation because the authorities are not enforcing it strictly enough.

The group wants establishments taken to court if they are regularly found flouting the ban, but it also wants individual smokers fined.

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• Smoking ups risk of common heart rhythm problem  

a new study finds that both current and former smokers run an elevated risk of the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation.

The condition, also known as AF, is the most common heart arrhythmia in the U.S., affecting about 2 million people. During an episode of AF, abnormal electrical activity in the heart causes its upper two chambers to beat in a rapid, uncoordinated rhythm; the arrhythmia itself is not life-threatening, but over time AF can contribute to stroke or heart failure in some people.

While smoking is a well-known risk factor for heart disease, it has not been clear whether the habit boosts the risk of AF specifically.

The new findings, reported in the American Heart Journal, suggest that it does -- even after a smoker quits.

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• Dutch cafe owners rally against smoking ban 

THE HAGUE (AFP) — Dutch cafe owners on Saturday took to the streets of The Hague in protest at a smoking ban they say has seen business drop by up to a third.

Organisers said 5,000 people took part although police estimates put the number at around 1,500.

"A cigarette is part of cafe culture," said Wiel Maessen, secretary of the Save the Small Cafe Owners' group which organised the rally.

"The cafes (in the Netherlands) are really struggling. Soon we will find ourselves having to ask for social welfare," added Marina Bosma from the western city of Leiden in a speech.

Protesters brandished banners denouncing the "dictatorship" of Dutch Health Minister Ab Klink.

The cafe owners want the ban, which came into force on July 1, scrapped arguing they have neither the space nor the money to build specially-ventilated smoking areas.

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• Smoking ban, shaky economy wallop Dutch bars  

He is not the only Dutch smoker deciding to stay home. Bars and cafes in the Netherlands are seeing revenues slump after the government introduced a smoking ban in July, shortly before the credit crisis took hold.

The double whammy is costing bars as much as 30 percent of their business, said Joris Prinssen of Royal Horeca Netherlands, a lobbying group representing 20,000 bar and restaurant owners.

Other countries, too, have been hit by the coinciding smoking bans and economic malaise.

Gerard Laloi, who heads a group that represents France's bar owners, said beer sales fell 12 percent in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period last year. France banned smoking in bars and restaurants on Jan. 1. . . .

In Israel and Cyprus smoking bans also are regularly flouted.

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