Smoking rooms to be phased out by 2013

Di-Ve
Current Affairs -- 15 January 2010 -- 11:35CEST
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68538&newscategory=31

Designated smoking rooms will have to be phased out by 2013, according to a legal notice issued this month.
Health Division spokesman John Attard Kingswell said that after 2013, the only place for smokers to light up would be outdoors. He said the division has been in contact with the representatives of the catering industry, to keep them up to date with developments. The move mirrors that in the EU.

However, a source within the industry said that this would be a real blow.

"While most restaurants and their patrons have come to terms with the current smoking rules, nightclubs and other leisure outlets invested considerable sums of money to set aside space for designated smoking areas, and in the extraction equipment these require. It is going to be a real blow for all that to be for nothing in just 3 years' time..." he told www.di-ve.com

The legal notice also states that all smoking rooms in catering establishments must be registered with the Superintendent of Public Health within 2 months, and that they must conform with technical specifications issued by the Malta Standards Authority.

Another legal notice extended the restrictions on advertising and smoking to products often used by smokers trying to quit the habit, such as electronic smoking devices.

The application for the registration of designated smoking rooms is available from the Department for Environmental Health at 37/39 Rue d’Argens, Msida or any Department regional office.

In case of any further queries the public is requested to contact the Department for Environmental Health on tel. 21337333 between 0800h and 1500h.