Political party A Just Russia has submitted a bill to the State Duma that, if passed, would grant restaurant, cafe and bar owners the right to allow smoking on terraces and other outdoor areas, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday.
The deputies have also proposed mandating the establishment of outdoor smoking areas and special smoking rooms for persons with disabilities.
From June 1, smoking is no longer permitted in Russia's traditionally smoky bars and cafes. The prohibition represents the second stage in the government's phased ban on smoking in public places.
Russia's state consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, extended the prohibition yesterday to summer terraces at restaurants and cafes, according to a news release on the agency's website.
A Just Russia party, led by Sergei Mironov, immediately opposed the latest development in the war against tobacco. In the draft law's explanatory note, the party argued that it is customary in many European countries, such as Estonia and the Netherlands, to allow venues to designate outdoor smoking areas, and that therefore such a provision would not contradict the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
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