Youth Economic Theory
The Law on Protection of Minors "Grows Teeth" Sets a Milestone for China's Tobacco Control
The revised Law on the Protection of Minors clearly included e-cigarettes when it first mentioned cigarettes, which is of great significance for minors to stay away from the harm of e-cigarettes.
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The 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress passed the revised "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors" (hereinafter referred to as the "Unprotected Law") after a vote on October 17.
The law will come into effect on June 1, 2021.
Among them, the provisions related to tobacco control are called "far-reaching adjustments."
The old problems of setting up cigarette outlets around campuses and new problems such as e-cigarettes have been clarified.
"This is an important milestone in China's tobacco control process." Tong Lihua, vice president of the China Smoking Control Association and director of the Beijing Youth Legal Aid Center, commented.
E-cigarettes were written into a national legal text for the first time
Tong Lihua pointed to the four words "contains electronic cigarettes" and told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that the parents or other guardians of minors shall not allow or instigate minors to smoke without the provisions of Article 17 Paragraph 4 of the Law. (Including electronic cigarettes, the same below), drinking, gambling, vagrant begging or bullying others.
"Although this statement is very brief, this is the first time that the revised Unprotected Law mentions cigarettes and clearly includes e-cigarettes. It is of great significance for minors to stay away from the harm of e-cigarettes."
It is understood that this is the first time the issue of electronic cigarettes has been written into a national legal text.
At the same time, based on the provisions of Article 17 Paragraph 4 of this Law, the article prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to minors (Article 59 Paragraph 1) also includes the control of e-cigarettes. This is the first time The sale of electronic cigarettes to minors is clearly prohibited in the form of a national law.
At the same time, in the "Social Protection" chapter, the revised draft stipulates that cigarettes should not be sold to minors. It also clearly stipulates that "no tobacco, alcohol, or lottery sales outlets may be set up around schools" and "no one is allowed in schools, kindergartens, and other children Smoking and drinking in places where adults intensively engage in activities” not only helps to restrict the establishment of cigarette sales outlets around schools, but also means that schools, kindergartens and other places where minors intensively engage in activities must be completely banned.
From the definition of tobacco types to tobacco marketing behaviors to no-smoking places, the revised Unprotected Law provides comprehensive protection for minors.
"For a country like China that is a large tobacco producer, consumer, profit tax, and victimized country, the smoking population in my country is equivalent to the total smoking population in the next 10 countries." Secretary-General of Beijing Tobacco Control Association, Capital Medical University Professor Cui Xiaobo of the School of Public Health told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that to change this situation, we must not only help smokers quit smoking, but also reduce the ranks of smoking successors, and reduce the harm of second-hand smoke.
Cigarette stalls around schools are hardest hit areas for minors to obtain tobacco. Some businesses even break up cigarettes to lower the threshold.
Cui Xiaobo once asked tobacco control volunteers to lead underage children to 109 tobacco and alcohol retail outlets in Beijing to conduct a tobacco purchase survey. As a result, 78 tobacco and alcohol retail outlets rejected the children's request to buy tobacco.
International tobacco control experts poured cold water on this result: “When a country sells cigarettes to minors with a success rate of more than 5%, it means that the enforcement of tobacco control regulations has failed.” Cui Xiaobo once told 100 schools (primary schools) in Beijing. , Junior high school, high school, vocational high school) The smoking situation of students from grade six to grade three was investigated.
The survey found that the second year and second year of high school are the rising period of smoking.
As soon as vocational high school students enter the school, the smoking rate soars to 30% of the adult smoking rate.
The survey also showed that the starting age of smoking is less than about 12 years old is a foregone conclusion, and the problem of low age smoking exists.
The smoking rate of teachers is positively correlated with the smoking rate of students.
The smoking rate is negatively correlated with academic performance, that is, the smoking rate of students with good academic performance is low, while the smoking rate of students with poor academic performance is high.
"Therefore, it is not to say that if you are 100 meters away from the school, even if it is 10,000 meters or 100,000 meters away from the school, it is a problem that minors can buy cigarettes, and they must be held accountable."
Clarify that the legal liability is not guaranteed, "grow teeth"
Tong Lihua told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily about the two laws.
Article 37 of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors" (revised in 2006) stipulates that the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors is prohibited, and operators shall set up signs not to sell tobacco and alcohol to minors in a prominent position; If it is difficult to determine whether the person is an adult, he should be required to show his identity certificate.
No one is allowed to smoke or drink in classrooms, dormitories, activity rooms and other places where minors gather for activities in primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, nurseries.
Article 67 stipulates that if the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors, or the non-sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors is not set in a prominent position, the competent department shall order corrections and impose administrative penalties in accordance with the law.
Tong Lihua told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that in 2005, the National People’s Congress Internal Affairs and Judicial Committee held a discussion meeting and suggested that the regulations on the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors can be considered when the minor crime law is revised. .
Some people think that relevant regulations are related to economic interests and it is inconvenient to make clear regulations.
"There is no controversial consensus on the harm of smoking to minors. However, few of the cigarettes that children smoke are given by their parents, and they are all bought by the children themselves. I think it is the best way to control from the source." Tong Lihua said.
Tong Lihua still remembers the 2005 meeting. He insisted on the suggestion of "providing regulations on the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors" and finally stayed in the 2006 revision.
However, when Tong Lihua, as a representative of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress, made special recommendations to the relevant departments of Beijing on the implementation of Article 67, the relevant departments all responded clearly: Since the law does not clearly stipulate that it is their responsibility, they cannot bear this. responsibility.
The unprotected law, which has always been criticized as the "tiger without teeth," is often in an embarrassing situation because its provisions cannot be fully implemented. The unprotected law is rarely used in a case in court trials.
Tong Lihua understands the actual difficulty of law enforcement.
Because the root of the problem is legislation, not law enforcement-who is the competent authority?
On which law is the administrative punishment imposed in accordance with the law?
The law of non-guarantee does not stipulate the measures and standards for punishment, and other laws do not provide for punishment.
"This is the question of the quality of legislation."
Tong Lihua's worries have been eliminated in this revision.
He pointed out that the "legal liability" part of the revised law on non-guarantees specifically stipulates the subject of law enforcement and legal responsibilities: the sale of cigarettes to minors can not only impose a fine of less than 50,000 yuan, but refuse to correct or if the circumstances are serious, but also It can be ordered to suspend business for rectification or revoke its business license, and revoke relevant permits; smokers in schools, kindergartens and other public places where minors intensively engage in activities can be fined less than 500 yuan. If the place managers fail to stop them in time, they can be fined. Impose a fine of less than 10,000 yuan.
Cui Xiaobo noticed a punitive measure for violations of the law: "The departments of culture and tourism, market supervision and management, tobacco monopoly, public security, etc., according to the division of responsibilities, order corrections within a time limit, give warnings, confiscate illegal gains, and impose a penalty of 50,000 yuan. The following fines; if they refuse to make corrections or the circumstances are serious, they shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification, or their business licenses shall be revoked, or relevant permits shall be revoked, and a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan may be imposed.”
"This is an unprecedented major measure to fundamentally solve the problem of tobacco sales to minors. It will have a major impact on changing the country’s non-compliance with the issue of tobacco sales to young people. Moreover, other relevant laws and regulations will also be in accordance with the unprotected laws. Penalties are revised." Cui Xiaobo said.
"Unprotected'grow teeth'." Tong Lihua said.
The upper level law will promote the progress of tobacco control regulations
"The unprotected law is the upper level law, and other laws should be adjusted accordingly, such as the tobacco monopoly law. Other laws and regulations must be moved closer to the unprotected law and implemented." Cui Xiaobo said that minors include not only students, but also some unprotected laws. Talking children, they are also affected by second-hand smoke.
Therefore, the provisions on tobacco control in the unprotected law are particularly important.
The Regulations for the Implementation of the Tobacco Monopoly Law revised in 2016 stipulate Article 5 of Chapter 1 of the Tobacco Monopoly Law, “The state and society shall strengthen publicity and education on the health hazards of smoking, prohibit or restrict smoking in public transportation and public places, discourage young people from smoking, and prohibit smoking. "Primary school children smoking" was deleted.
Now, this problem may have a way out.
Tong Lihua also feels that the biggest improvement in tobacco control in the revised unprotected law is that as a higher-level law, it clearly stipulates e-cigarettes and smoking places, creating a smoke-free environment for minors to grow up.
“Unprotected law is a national legislation passed by the National People’s Congress, which reflects the will of the country. In the future, relevant regulations on tobacco control, whether it is the administrative regulations issued by the State Council, the regulations and policies issued by various ministries and commissions, or the regulations and policies of various localities, must be On the basis of complying with national laws.” Tong Lihua pointed out that in the next step, localities can further clarify relevant rules and regulations through non-guaranteed regulations or implementation measures for non-guaranteed laws.
In response to the issue of not setting up tobacco and alcohol sales outlets around the school/doorway that experts in the field of tobacco control have repeatedly mentioned before, the revised non-guaranteed law has not clearly stipulated.
In this regard, Tong Lihua said that we cannot rely on unprotected law to solve all problems, and there has been significant progress now.
Cui Xiaobo said frankly that there is still some work to be done to implement the regulations.
For example, the Beijing Tobacco Bureau penalized 4 cases of selling cigarettes to minors in 2019, but did not disclose the specific details to the public.
Cui Xiaobo believes that publicizing these cases for publicity and education itself has the role of management and punishment.
China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Li Chenhe Source: China Youth Daily