Some 96% of café and bar owners are observing the ban on smoking which came into effect on July 1, news agency ANP reports on Monday.

So far, 1,000 spot checks have been carried out and just 34 warnings have been issued. Some 116 of the bars and cafés inspected had set aside a separate sealed off area for smokers, most of which met official guidelines, ANP said.
Meanwhile, research for the anti-smoking lobby group Stivoro shows that 600,000 people decided to stop smoking in May and June, three times the normal number. One third of them are using nicotine replacement products such as chewing gum or plasters.