DutchNews.nl - Smoking ban for restaurants in 2008?

The hotel and catering trade says it will back a ban on smoking in restaurants, hotels and fast-food outlets from January 2008, if health minister Ab Klink gives cafés and discos more time to take anti-smoking measures.

Klink wants a complete ban by next year, while the government coalition agreement states a target date of 2011.

In talks with catering lobby group Horeca Nederland, Klink has stressed that it is vital for staff to be protected from the harmful effects of passive smoking. Workers have had a legal right to a smoke-free workplace since 2004, with the exception of catering and bar personnel.

Anti-smoking lobby group Stivoro is totally opposed to the idea of phasing in the smoking ban. The health of a bar-man is just as important as the health of a restaurant waiter, the organisation said in a press release. A partial smoking ban applying to some catering establishments but not others, such as in Belgium, leads to confusion, it said.

Around 30% of the Dutch population smoke. The previous government set up a covenant with the catering trade to reduce the nuisance caused by smoke, but its effects have been limited. Only a small proportion of Dutch restaurants, for example, are smoke free.

The minister will make a decision on the issue at the end of this month, news agency ANP reported.

That 30 per cent of Dutchmen who smoke owe it to themselves to stay home and put their money in the bank. Sic semper tyrannis.

By Ed | April 18, 2007 4:16 PM

I like the Netherlands a lot, but at the moment I prefer countries which go smoke-free. So I hope a smoking ban will come as soon as possible. And hopefully a ban that includes everything.

By Michael Saal, Switzerland | April 20, 2007 12:42 PM

On a recent trip to Dublin I spent hours listening to live music in a bar, for the first time in years.

Let the 30% of Dutch people who are so addicted to smoking enjoy it in their own home, and stop poisoning the rest of us.

By Louise | April 22, 2007 12:41 PM

I'd love to revisit Holland where I once lived for a year , but I do not want to get (chronic) bronchitis from second hand smoke again, as I did then. I can avoid the smoke in my own house, but when I travel to countries without a smoking ban I cannot.

By Linda | May 31, 2007 11:41 AM

After having lived in Wisconsin and California, I see the difference in my health from bing in a non-smoking state.Now when I see it, I think the smoker is inconsiderate at best and accessory to manslaughter at worst. It makes the whole people who smoke look backwards and uneducated.

By Boobsie | January 24, 2008 9:13 AM