To protect its citizens from second-hand smoke, Beijing’s legislators are working on a law to ban smoking in all indoor public places. That’s potentially great news, not only for the capital city, but also for China’s 300 million smokers, one of whom dies every 30 seconds from a tobacco-related illness. Tobacco also takes an enormous toll on Beijing’s, and China’s health care system and economy.
It would be a great shame – and a tremendous waste of life – if Beijing’s leaders let special interests derail progress toward passage of a law that institutes a comprehensive ban on indoor public smoking. Only a comprehensive ban will comply with the terms of the world’s first health treaty, the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The treaty, which China signed onto in 2005, commits China to adopt laws that protect citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke in offices and other indoor public places.
Some months ago, it was great to see a very strong draft law go through a first reading in the Beijing People's Congress. Yet as the legislative process has unfolded, some extremely problematic loopholes have appeared in the revised draft of the law. For instance, there is now a proposed loophole which would permit smoking in "single occupancy" offices. That is, smoking would still be allowed in offices occupied by one person, such as leaders and senior staff.
I am extremely dismayed to see these loopholes appear in the draft Beijing law. Allowing such loopholes to weaken Beijing’s anti-smoking legislation is a terrible idea, for several reasons.
First, doing so would violate the requirements of the FCTC – an international legal instrument that China has signed and ratified in pursuit of its own public health goals. The FCTC requires that all public places be smoke-free. Preventing public exposure to carcinogenic second-hand smoke requires a 100% smoke-free environment. There is no safe level of exposure, so there can be no exceptions to this requirement. Simple as that.
If single occupancy offices were exempt from smoke-free laws, then co-workers, cleaning staff, and others who have to enter these offices, or who work nearby, would be exposed to second-hand smoke. When the door to an office is open, smoke escapes and spreads. Even with the door closed, smoke leaks through gaps in door frames, floorboards and ceilings, and through ducts and shared ventilation systems. Scientific evidence shows that exposure to tobacco smoke cannot be “engineered away”. Ventilation systems, air filtration, and designated smoking areas are ineffective at protecting against the hazards caused by exposure to second-hand smoke. Loopholes also make smoke-free laws very difficult to effectively enforce.
There is a second powerful reason to prevent loopholes from creeping into Beijing’s anti-smoking law. As the nation’s capital, Beijing sets a precedent and is a model for every other Chinese city. Beijing has an opportunity to lead the way here, to set an example for every other city in China – and other mega-cities across the world – to follow. This is an opportunity for Beijing to get ahead of the curve – to pass a law that will make Beijing a leader not just within China, but across the world. The WHO will be bitterly disappointed if Beijing passes up this chance.
The legislative process has reached a crucial juncture. Beijing’s leaders must resist any temptation to water down the city’s anti-smoking law. The loopholes and exemptions that have appeared in the draft law must be removed. Any exemption for single occupancy offices would be a giant step backward for Beijing’s, and China’s, people.
Exceptions to the new law that provide special privileges for senior managers and officials would foster a perception that China has one rule for its elites, and another for its workers. Loopholes and exceptions to the law would also prevent China from meeting its obligations under the FCTC. This would be an especially disappointing turn of events, given last December’s joint CPC-State Council Notice urging officials to take the lead in promoting smoke-free public places. And, above all, it will represent a grave failure by Beijing’s lawmakers to protect their people from the deadly hazards of exposure to second-hand smoke.
Although a few other cities and countries have unwisely made exceptions to their anti-smoking laws, it would be a massive misstep if Beijing’s legislators followed suit and repeated others’ mistakes. Simply stated, Beijing has an opportunity here to pass a law that will save lives. The WHO urges the Beijing People’s Congress to seize that opportunity, by passing legislation that bans public smoking indoors, without exceptions. Nothing less will do.
Dr Bernhard Schwartländer is the WHO’s Representative in China.