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Tobacco sale to minors: Law goes up in smoke 

Dubai Despite the ban on selling tobacco to minors, groceries and supermarkets continue to openly flout the rules, XPRESS has discovered.

After Dubai Municipality issued a public notice last week banning sale of tobacco to those under the age of 20, XPRESS took to the streets with a 16-year-old volunteer, Mohammad Al Madani, to find out if the rules were really being adhered to.

The results were surprising.

Of the seven groceries and supermarkets surveyed, four were found flouting the law.

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Thumbs down to smoking 

The UAE earnestly embraced the global war against smoking on World No Tobacco Day yesterday by announcing that it would target youth, implement curbs and set up clinics to assist smokers to kick the butt.

While Dubai -- which has already banned smoking in enclosed public places -- yesterday imposed curbs on shops from selling tobacco products including cigarettes to youth below 20 years, Sharjah geared up to implement the ban on smoking from today.

The Ministry of Health (MoH), meanwhile, announced that setting up smoking cessation clinics across the emirates is at the forefront of its fight against smoking which, according to estimates, is a habit of 48 per cent of the people in the UAE.

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• Supermarkets to comply with U-20 tobacco ban 

While supermarket chains in the emirate yesterday said they would comply with the Dubai Municipality directive not to sell tobacco products to people below 20 years, smaller groceries expressed fears that refusal to sell cigarettes to youth could result in ugly scenes at the outlets.

Salem Mesmar, Assistant Director-General of the Health, Safety and Environmental Monitoring Section at the municipality, had told Khaleej Times earlier that the outlets found selling these products to underage people would be fined. The shops have been given the liberty to ask for an age proof from any customer whom they suspect to be underage.

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• Dubai bans sale of cigarettes to under 20s 

The Gulf emirate of Dubai on Saturday banned the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 20 with immediate effect and barred young people from public areas in which smoking is allowed.

The announcement was made in public advertisements in Arabic-language newspapers as part of a "Youth Without Tobacco" campaign.

A spokesman for Dubai municipality told AFP that cigarette vendors and managers of public places such as cafes and restaurants have been instructed to ask clients for proof of identity even to smoke water pipes.

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Suffolk | Customs seize 18m fake cigarettes 

Nearly 18m counterfeit cigarettes were seized at Felixstowe

About 18 million counterfeit cigarettes have been seized by customs staff at a Suffolk container port.

The haul was found in two containers from Dubai, described as disposable plastic goods, and HM Revenue and Customs spokesman said.

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Gulfnews: Grocery stores ignore warnings on cigarette sales to youngsters 

Dubai: Parents of teenagers have called for stricter municipal checks on grocery stores as many youngsters are able to buy cigarettes there despite a tobacco ban for under 21s.

Parents have said 10-year-old children or younger smoking in public is a common sight. They have said there is an urgent need for regular municipal inspections on neighbourhood grocery stores.

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Curbs on smoking in hotels come into force 

The third phase of the smoking regulations in public places instituted by the Dubai Municipality -- this time in hotels and hotel apartments -- came into effect yesterday.

Most of the hotels had already made arrangements to comply with the curbs though some said they had expected the implementation to come later in the year.

The Dubai Municipality yesterday announced the third phase which calls for smoking regulations in the hotels and hotel apartments.

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• Hotels unsure about how to ban smoking 

Although the smoking ban in hotels came into force on Tuesday, hotel managers said that they were still waiting for the final word from Dubai Municipality.

"We have so far had a draft for regulating smoking but no final word. We don't know how to implement it," said Ashwin Singh, General Manager of Dhow Palace Hotel in Bur Dubai.

However, he said that they had already imposed a smoking ban in some restaurants and the lobby.

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Smoking ban violation attracts Dh1,000 fine 

Dubai: Fines for smokers who light up in no-smoking areas have been revised to Dh1,000 from the earlier Dh500, said a senior official on Thursday.

"We have sent a proposal to the legal department to revise fines for violators [of] smoking regulations set by the Dubai Municipality," said Salem Bin Mesmar, Director of the Public Health Department at the Municipality.

The fines for individuals may range from Dh1,000 to Dh8,000 while establishments may face fines from Dh10,000 to Dh80,000 for not adhering to smoking regulations, he said.

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Dubai Municipality Issues Guide To Regulate Smoking In Public Places 

The guide clearly defines areas where smoking is prohibited, where it is permitted, and lays down conditions for designated areas for smoking, licensing requirements, health and safety regulations. The guide also lists types of violations and the proposed fines for them.

This was announced in a press conference held by the municipality on Wednesday and attended by Salem Bin Mesmar, Director of Public Health Department, and Zohoor Al Sabbagh, Head of Clinic and Community Health Section.

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• Lighting up in non-smoking area could cost you Dh500 

Dubai: People lighting a cigarette in the non-smoking area will be fined Dh500 from January next year, said a senior official.

"We will start imposing fines for violating smoking ban in shopping centres, restaurants and coffee shops from January, 2008," said Engineer Abdullah Rafeeu, Assistant Director General for Environment and Public Health Affairs at Dubai Municipality.

First-time offenders will face a Dh500 fine, which will be doubled for repeated offence. Rafeeu said shopping malls, restaurants and coffee shops would also be fined for failing to regulate smoking in their premises.

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Dubai smoking ban extended 

The second phase of Dubai's anti-smoking regulations comes into effect today, Sunday, with restaurants and cafes wishing to operate a smoking section needing to fulfil certain Dubai Municipality regulations related to limiting smoke exposure, reported Gulf News. The Dubai based daily revealed that a number of restaurants were either unaware of the specific regulations or even that they were set to be implemented.

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• DM announces second phase of smoking regulation programme 

Dubai Municipality has announced the second phase of the programme to regulate smoking in public places in Dubai (restaurants, cafes and Shisha cafes) from 18 November 2007. During the first phase smoking regulation was implemented in shopping malls.

Dubai Municipality Public Health Department officials held a meeting in this regard on Thursday with representatives of Dubai Police, Department of Health and Medical Services, Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Department, Economic Development Department and the Roads and Transport Authority.

The meeting discussed the measures to be taken to create awareness among the public

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• Smoking is "One of the Biggest Health Threats" for the Middle East 

Local and international experts on the medical and social effects of smoking have gathered in Dubai to discuss a strategic plan to reduce its impact on health and wellbeing in the region.

Among the issues under discussion were the results of recent research that revealed that 54 percent of smokers in the UAE are younger than 30 years of age, demonstrating the scale of potential future health problems unless the widespread addiction to tobacco is curtailed.

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• Harsh Fines: Smoking Gun 

Smoking in public places could burn a big hole in a smoker's pocket as fines under the new municipal smoking ban will climb ten-fold after a 90-day grace period, a senior municipal official warns.

The measures, implemented beginning September 15, are part of the second phase of the municipal government's efforts to regulate smoking in public places.

The third phase, which will come into force on November 15, will prohibit smoking in all work places, schools, food courts, internet cafés and health clubs.

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