On January 1, Bulgaria introduced limitations on smoking in public places. The Sofia Echo solicited accounts of experiences of the effectiveness, or otherwise, of the regulations.
Compiled by CHRISTINA DIMITROVA.
BY decree number 329 of December 8, 2004, the Government issued an Ordinance regulating smoking in specific zones in enclosed public and work places, including public transport.

Comments

Having lived in Ireland, where a similar ban was imposed in early 2004 with near 100 per cent compliance, I am disappointed with the poor compliance here in Bulgaria, where the ban appears to have been introduced merely as a token measure, with little prior awareness being generated and very little follow-through by the authorities, enabling particularly restaurant owners to blatantly break the rules without even a gesture of compliance. As a non-smoker, I look forward to the day when authorities and the public at large ensure full compliance so that I can breathe clean air and come home with my clothes still smelling fresh.

Best regards.
Tom Enge

The first thing I’d say on this issue is that I am amazed that it has been implemented in any manner at all, given the usual Bulgarian custom of legislating with great enthusiasm and failing to implement with even more enthusiasm. As I tend to avoid places which are particularly smoky, and am still avoiding them, I can’t comment on what’s happening there, but experiences so far:
- Cafes with random allocation of smoking & non-smoking so that there’s not much difference from before.
- A larger number of cafes where the two sections are separate, and where (contrary to rumour) the non-smoking tables are mostly occupied – by non-smokers
- One occasion I pointed out to someone about to light up that he and his companion were sitting at a non-smoking table. Though his large (bulging underarm?) companion glowered, the guy addressed noticed there was one smokers’ table free and moved. He smiled; I smiled and thanked him. What I’m not sure about is whether, had I complained to the waitress, she would have done anything.
- An observation that smokers on average get the more attractive section of the establishment, but I don’t see any need to start rattling sabres about that, at least not yet.

Best regards
Ann Stewart

Funny you should ask about the new laws involving smoking in Bulgaria. Just last Thursday, while in the waiting room at the Rousse train station, I saw this new law in effect.
Two policemen were chatting while both of them were puffing away directly under a no smoking sign in said waiting room! It did bring a smile to my face. Drat, if I only had my camera!
Basically, the new laws are a step in the right direction. The problem is will they be enforced and taken seriously.
First, the people making the laws need to be respected. This is obviously a problem in Bulgaria. Just ask your average Bulgarian what he or she thinks about their political representatives. Again, this is a hangover from the Communist past.
If they can’t be expected to set a good example and obey the law, why should anyone else? Look around the Government and see who is being charged with breaking laws. Do they walk the walk?
The other problem is if it is just a cosmetic law to “impress” the EU. For instance, there are laws on the books against begging in Bulgaria. Yet, not one person has EVER been arrested for this since the law went into effect.
In order to help enforce the law better, the Governnent could do many things. Pay the people that catch others breaking the law half of the fine. Drastically increase tobacco taxes. When people have to decide to pay for their children’s clothes or smoke, they’ll make the right choice. Make it hurt.
Smoking kills people. Believe me. I had two aunts die from lung cancer and one uncle who died from emphysema due to smoking.
It also costs the Bulgarian Government millions of leva in medical, lost working hours and health care costs yearly. Not to mention causes untold amounts of suffering, leukemia, emphysema and a host of other diseases.
If you need to relax by using a narcotic then something is wrong with you.
However, that said, I have no problem if people smoke where they don’t cause others to breath their smoke. If they want to die of cancer, that’s their business. Just don’t take others with you.
It is a basic respect of rights of others. Just to give you an example of how already the new law is not being taken seriously is my return train from Rousse. Two out of the firstst three non-smoking compartments were full of smokers.

Best Wishes,
Keith W. Brown

Although the law hasn’t been implemented as written in Blagoevgrad, as a non-smoker I am pleased that for the first time ever I can go into a restaurant in town and have a special section reserved for non-smokers. A few restaurants in town actually have some ventilation systems and it is nice to go out in the evenings now, without having to wash my clothes and coat each time I return home!
I am also pleased that the law has come from within the country. I was always told by locals that the American influence of non-smoking was a Western value and would never work in this region. It is nice to see a law not related so much to an area of the world now, as it is to a concept – better health. The second test will be to see how it helps the upcoming generations in health issues.

Jill Rasmussen
Blagoevgrad

On January 3, I went to have coffee with friends at By The Way – a very luxurious and fashionable place – and as I was with my son we asked for the non-smoking area – mostly jokingly, as none of us expected the place to have one. The waitress gave us a nasty look (at least I think so), but she directed us to such area – it was not separated in any way from the smoking area. The whole place is as big as the Sofia Echo office, so I imagine the air gets mixed up, but I could not sense any cigar smoke – maybe because it was morning and there weren’t too many people. I am not sure this was really a non-smoking area, as there were ash-trays on the tables; but the people that came afterwards to sit in that area were told that it was non-smoking also.

Regards,
Annie Rusinova

Being a light and (I would say) considerate smoker, I have always abhorred the lack of choice a non-smoker faces when going out to eat in Bulgaria. In fact when my mother comes to visit during the cold months, we cannot even go out to eat because she suffers from asthma. I am delighted that the new law has at last made restaurant owners think about giving customers a choice.
We straightaway tested the new law on January 3 by visiting Pizza Victoria in the Military Club with four young children. We requested non-smoking, and were shown into a nice alcove area with about eight tables – which were all full within half an hour. At last we are not restricted to McDonalds if we want to take the children out for a meal! Full marks to Pizza Victoria for keeping the non-smokers integrated in the overall buzz of the restaurant.
Other recent experiences revolve around lunchtime dining in the Shipka/San Stefano streets area and are mixed.
O!Shipka has a separate non-smoking room upstairs which is pleasant enough but you cannot help feel a little shoved out of the way. Dobro in the park has made a fair attempt at separating diners but at some point a non-smoker will sit next to the smoker. Cafe Intrigue on Shipka Street was my worst experience so far. Having asked for a non-smoking table the waitress just pointed us to a free table with an ash-tray on it, and sure enough 10 minutes later a bunch of students sat at the table next to us and lit up. This cafe is on two levels and therefore it would be no problem to have separate areas – they just aren’t even interested to make the effort.
The Pizzeria on the corner of Shipka and San Stefano streets has a small non-smoking section (maybe four out of 20 tables) but as we entered we saw someone puffing away in the non-smoking section and so we decided to leave again taking our business elsewhere.
I prefer to live in a smoke-free environment. The few cigarettes I smoke a day are usually smoked outdoors or in situations where I am not affecting non-smokers. I am now however in a new dilemma. The few times I have agreed to sitting in the smoker’s area with friends for lunch have been sheer hell. My eyes would sting for the rest of the day – not to mention the stench in my clothes. The smoker’s area in restaurants have definitely become unbearable when busy (because no one has upgraded their ventilation) so no doubt we’ll soon see more people opting for non-smoking seating during the meal and moving over to smoking for the after dinner coffee & smoke!
Maybe the after dinner smoking lounge will be a new direction in restaurant design?

Paromita Sanatani
Sofia

Thumbs up for ONDA – the whole of the ground floor is non-smoking, as is half the upper floor and the ventilation is strong enough for it not to be felt.
A big thumbs down for Multiplex where the whole of the foyer and ticket sales area was full of smoke last Sunday afternoon to the extent that it was preferable to stand outside in the freezing cold than breathe in the poison air.

Christine Milner
Managing Director & Publisher

One of our favourite Sofia restaurants, Bai Gencho in Dondukov, has taken the new requirements seriously. Non-smokers are now shown down to the cold and unwelcoming basement, while smokers enjoy the cosy log fire and the view out into the street. A real dilemma for those of us who can’t stand smoky restaurants. It clearly is not an option, as far as the management of the restauarant is concerned, to send the smokers down to the basement! Sadly, we’ll probably abandon Bai Gencho. What a pity.

Ian and Stephanie Woods



What the law says...
Article 2: No exemptions from the strict ban on smoking in:
1. Kindergartens, schools and places for extracurricular activities – clubs, schools, study groups, etc.
2. Higher education institutions
3. Cultural institutions – cinemas, theatres, concert halls, art galleries, libraries, community centres (chitalishte) and others.
4. Internet clubs
5. Premises of food processing and commercial enterprises in which foods are stored, prepared, produced or sold, except for places in which the food is consumed.
6. Busses, trolleybuses, trams, subway cars, marshrutka taxis, and taxis – both for drivers and passengers.
7. Subway stations.
8. Bulgarian commercial passenger aircraft.
9. Lifts in all types of buildings.
10. Work premises.

Article 3: Enclosed public places in which smoking is permitted as an exception in specified areas are all buildings with free access – administrative buildings, accommodation buildings, places for consumption of food in public nutrition and entertainment establishments, health enterprises, sports, commercial, and other places as well as in some means of public transport.

Part 2 – Conditions in which smoking is allowed
as an exception

Article 4
Paragraph 1: Smoking in enclosed public places mentioned in Article 3 is allowed under the condition that this takes place in specified areas.
Paragraph 2: Specified area is:
1) A specially designated room, which has mechanical ventilation and a permanent sign on the door saying “Smoking Room”.
2) A part of the premises of a public nutrition and entertainment establishment with less than 60 seats.

Article 5
Paragraph 1: Areas mentioned in Article 4, paragraph 2, point 1 have to comply with the following conditions:
1. To have mechanical ventilation, which provides tenfold air circulation per hour through air suction and works during the entire working hours of the establishment. If there is no technical possibility for the construction of such ventilation, natural ventilation is allowed as an exception.
2. The areas must be described in an order by the person using the premises.
Paragraph 2: The tenant of the premises provides for the efficient functioning and the technical maintenance of the mechanical ventilation.
Paragraph 3: Smoking areas may not include lobbies, stairwells, hallways and sanitary premises.

Article 6
Paragraph 1: In the specified areas mentioned in Article 4, paragraph 2, point 2, the number of seats for smokers cannot exceed half of the total number of seats.
Paragraph 2: The tables in the area under paragraph 1 must be designated with a sign “Smoking Table”.

Article 7
Paragraph 1: In public nutrition and entertainment establishments with more than 60 seats, smoking is allowed only in separate rooms marked clearly as “Smoking Hall”.
Paragraph 2: The number of seats for smokers in the hall cannot exceed half of the total number of seats.

Article 8
Public nutrition and entertainment establishments in which there is a specified smoking zone and those with separate smoking halls, must have mechanical ventilation which provides not less than 40 sq m of fresh air an hour for each place, and this must be switched on during working hours.

Article 9
In the areas specified in article 4, paragraph 2 and article 7, paragraph 1, persons under 18 years of age are not allowed.

Article 10
Paragraph 1: In places of accommodation, the number of rooms for smokers cannot exceed half the total number of rooms.
Paragraph 2: The doors of rooms in which smoking is forbidden must be permanently marked as such.

Article 11
Paragraph 1: In passenger trains, no more than half the carriages can be designated as smoking.
Paragraph 2: If there is only one carriage with reserved seats, it cannot be designated as a smoking carriage.
Paragraph 3: Non-smoking passenger carriages must be clearly and permanently marked.
Paragraph 4: In sleeping carriages as well as in trains with only one carriage, smoking compartments must be designated. Smoking in hallways and sanitary rooms is forbidden.
Paragraph 5: In dining carriages, a smoking area under Article 4, paragraph 2, point 2, must be designated. The number of seats for smokers cannot exceed half the total number of seats.

Article 12
In train stations, bus stations, seaports and airports, smoking is permitted in premises complying with Article 5.

Article 13
Paragraph 1: Smoking in enclosed areas in vessels is allowed only in rooms complying with Article 5.
Paragraph 2: The number of smoking cabins in passenger vessels cannot exceed half the total number of cabins.

Article 14
In office buildings, employers can define by an order designated rooms for smoking which must comply with Article 5.

Article 15
Paragraph 1: Tenants using premises under Article 3 and employers under Article 14 must once yearly have the efficiency of the ventilation system checked by a certified laboratory.
Paragraph 2: The protocols of the measurements are kept on the premises and shown to state hygiene inspectors at checkups.

Article 16
Responsibility for the observing of the current regulation is borne by:
1. Tenants of premises under articles 1 and 2.
2. Persons who are in enclosed public spaces.
3. Employers
4. Employees in the enclosed work areas.

Smoking: statistics and politics

BULGARIANS are a nation of inveterate smokers.
According to GLOBALink data, published on the www.anti-tobacco-bg.org website, Bulgaria takes third place in the world with an average of 6.6 cigarettes a day a person. Before it are Greece, with 7.8 cigarettes, Japan with 7.1 cigarettes. After it is South Korea with 6.3.
According to the same survey, 40.5 per cent of the Bulgarian population smokes on a regular basis - 51.7 men and 29.8 per cent women.
Another survey published on the same site, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, of 2002 shows that seven out of 10 pupils have tried cigarettes and four out of 10 smoke on a regular basis.
One month after the coming into effect of the new Government ordinance banning smoking in public places, things have started slowly changing.
After the first few days of reckless disregard of the new smoking restrictions, managers and owners of restaurants, cafes, offices and other enclosed public and work places have started to take measures in this respect.
Initially, the Government ordinance was received with mixed feelings by the public, and coldly by the Association of Hotel and Restaurant Owners, which argued that the regulations would ruin their businesses. Association chair, Blagoi Ragin, on more than one occasion demanded grace periods or changes in the ratio between smokers and non-smokers seats in restaurants and hotel rooms.
He, as well as owners of small neighbourhood cafes, said that the regulation would probably have little or no effect whatsoever but would open the way for corruption among hygiene inspectors who were doing the checkups.
The argument made by Ragin, other representatives of the restaurant business and some lawyers that the non-smoking tables would be mostly empty proved to be invalid as observed by The Sofia Echo staff recently in a popular beer hall in the centre of Sofia.
Naturally for a Friday evening, the place was busy and all tables, including the ones in the non-smoking section, were completely full. The same was the situation in a popular pizzeria nearby and at a restaurant in the neighbouring street.
One month into the new regulations, some MPs still have the wish to swing towards one or the other extreme, apparently with an eye on the forthcoming elections.
Novoto Vreme (New Time) MP Emil Koshlukov announced that his party would send 200 000 postcards against the smoking restrictions in cafes and restaurants.
He said that the initiative was launched in co-operation with the Association of Hotel and Restaurant Owners, and said he hoped that they would reach the MPs who approved the Health Act amendments.