More cafes and bars keep to smoking regulations
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Dutch café and bar owners have become stricter about allowing smoking on their premises, government inspectors say.
The food safety body NVWA says the ban on smoking is now being obeyed in almost 100% of restaurants, sports club canteens and hotels.
Cafes and clubs are lagging behind and 25% still break the rules, the inspectors say. Nevertheless, this is an improvement on 2013 when around 40% of cafes and bars ignored the ban.
Fines
In total, inspectors carried out 23,000 inspections last year and handed out over 1,500 fines. Fines can mount up to €4,500 for repeat offenders.
Smoking was banned in all cafes and bars, including small ones, from October last year after the government ended an exemption for cafes which did not employ staff.
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