Japan: Ban on Smoking in Public Facilities Eyed

Source from:  The Japan News 01/06/2016

The government plans to introduce legislation to strengthen measures against secondhand smoke in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The legislation will oblige all public facilities, including sports facilities, schools and hospitals, to completely ban smoking, and operators of hotels, restaurants and other facilities used by unspecified numbers of people to implement measures such as establishing separate smoking and nonsmoking areas, according to sources.

The government will include in the new law penalties to be imposed on violators, the sources said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) calls for "tobacco-free Games." Since the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, host cities and countries have obliged with laws and ordinances ordering relevant facilities and operators to ban smoking or separate smoking and nonsmoking zones. Most of them impose penalties on individuals and facility operators who violate the regulations.

In Japan, the Health Promotion Law, enacted in 2003, stipulates the prevention of passive smoking (see below) at facilities used by a large number of people. In that year, smoking was banned in banks, post offices and private railway facilities in the Kanto region.

The smoking ban subsequently spread to taxis and the stations and trains of the Japan Railway group. However, the law only stipulates that business operators should make efforts to prevent passive smoking.

As Tokyo will host the 2020 Games, the Tokyo metropolitan government aims to establish a local ordinance that penalizes violators. But voices against the imposition of a penalty remain deeply rooted.

Last year an expert panel of the metropolitan government submitted a proposal stating that the task should be handled by the central government and that restrictions should be uniformly introduced nationwide.

The central government wants the stipulated penalties to match the IOC's standards and demonstrate to visitors from overseas Japan's determination to eliminate passive smoking, the sources said.

During the current ordinary Diet session, a bipartisan group of lawmakers that came together over the issue plans to submit a bill that will stipulate the necessity of and basic policies for the promotion of measures to prevent passive smoking.

The lawmakers will ask the central government to take legislative action within two years. If the bill passes into law, the central government will establish the new law by fiscal 2017 at the earliest, the sources said.

Restaurant owners fear the law may cause potential customers to steer clear, and tobacco farmers, who are among the major supporters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, are strongly opposed to the legislation. Attention will be focused on how and to what extent facilities will be obliged to comply with the law.

Demands to subsidize the financial costs of setting up smoking areas are also predicted to grow. The government and ruling parties will need to coordinate in order to secure new financial sources for the subsidies.

Prevention of passive smoking

Article 25 of the Health Promotion Law stipulates that operators of public facilities must strive to take the necessary measures to prevent nonsmokers who are using the facilities from inhaling tobacco smoke. The facilities include schools, sports gyms, hospitals, theaters, viewing areas, gathering places, exhibition halls, department stores, offices, government facilities, restaurants and other places used by a large number of people. Enditem