Action on smokers

Supermarkets, restaurants, department stores, banks and shopping centres may soon be able to designate all or part of their premises as statutory non-smoking areas.

An amendment being considered would allow managers to decide which areas they wanted to be smoke-free, said Secretary for Health and Welfare Katherine Fok Lo Shiu-ching.

'We do not intend to make it compulsory for such places to be designated statutory non-smoking areas because enforcement will initially rest with the managers themselves,' she said.

'They are in the best position to determine whether or not their premises should be no smoking.'