BEIRUT: The syndicate of restaurant owners said Saturday that Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk supported their demand to relax a 2012 smoking ban.
After meeting with the minister, syndicate chief Tony al-Rami said that that Machnouk “expressed his agreement and support to the proposed amendment, because it protects the Lebanon and its cuisine.”
Rami did not specify what the amendment contains. But restaurant and pub owners have long fought against the law forbidding smoking inside enclosed spaces, complaining that it's bad for business.
MPs Nadim Gemayel and Samer Saadeh submitted a proposal to amend the law in September 2012. The proposal calls for exempting from the bill all restaurants and bars whose revenues rely mostly on cigars or shisha, and instead imposing on them an annual tax.
Rami said he had presented Machnouk with some “economic comparisons” between Lebanon and other Arab and European countries like Dubai, Qatar, Germany and France.
The bill, which is known as Law 174, went into effect in 2012 and prohibited smoking inside bars, restaurants and cafes.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour noted last month that the smoking ban is being widely violated, and announced that his ministry would carry out “raids” to ensure that it is applied.
Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon responded by saying that 70 percent of restaurants abide by the law.
Lebanon’s tourism police strictly enforced the law in the first few weeks after its adoption, especially in Beirut. But restaurants and bars have been gradually allowing smoking inside again after they realized that authorities were no longer enforcing the law.
Machnouk was criticized last month after he was seen smoking during an interview on LBCI, which was held inside the Interior Ministry.
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