[Intl-tobacco] Italy Tightens No-Smoking Law (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Italy Tightens No-Smoking Law
Source: AP, Friday, 7/7/00
Friday, July 7, 2000; 6:28 p.m. EDT

ROME =96=96 For four years Italians have largely puffed away in defiance of=
 a
national no-smoking law.

It was not uncommon to see bank tellers lighting up behind signs asking
customers not to smoke, or passengers indifferently drawing from
cigarettes in airport no smoking areas.

But on Friday, the Cabinet approved temporary measures aimed at forcing
Italians to take its "No Smoking" signs seriously.

Under the measures, Italians who defy the bans will risk fines of up to
$150.  Restaurant owners or office managers who fail to enforce smoking
bans will face even stiffer fines, up to $3,000.

The bans will also be extended to almost all enclosed spaces, public and
private, including indoor cafes and restaurants, where smoking is now
unrestricted. As in the United States, parts of restaurants can still be
designated as smoking areas.

The Cabinet decree also includes a provision for businesses to appoint a
kind of "minder" to see that no smoking takes place.

It is now up to the Parliament to decide whether to turn the measures,
which expire before the end of the year, into law. Spearheading support
for the law is Italy's new health minister, Umberto Veronesi, a doctor who
is one of the country's foremost cancer experts.

Business organizations have promised to lobby hard against the law,
contending it would raise costs too much for hoteliers, eatery and bar
owners to set up separate smoking and nonsmoking areas.