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Law stresses ban on underage booze sales
By Cao Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-11-09 09:17
Signs warning people of strict penalties for anyone caught selling alcohol or
cigarettes to people under 18 are to be prominently displayed by law.
A new amendment has been added to Shanghai's existing regulations for
protecting local minors and will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the
local People's Congress for its third review at the end of this month. Voting
will then take place for final approval.
"The maximum penalty is currently set at 500 yuan (US$60), but it is subject
to further change," said Huang Jue, an official from the Shanghai Municipal
People's Congress.
"This new rule warns both shopkeepers and children of the laws about selling
alcohol or cigarettes to children."
Law
A Chinese law implemented in 1999 forbids the sale of booze or cigarettes to
minors.
Many shops are still ignoring the law.
"The law doesn't include specific punishments for doing so," said Huang.
"So we are trying to make sure it happens. What we are trying to do now is to
carry it out in exact measures."
Statistics show that among the 320 million smokers in the country, more than
5 million are high school students or primary school children. Their average age
is 14 and a half.
"Every day, about 80,000 children start smoking," said an official from the
Shanghai Association of Smoking and Health.
More than 95 per cent of juvenile delinquents apparently started their lives
of crime because of smoking.
"When they can't find money for smoking, they try to get it in inappropriate
ways," said the official.
There are still difficulties in how to actually enforce the regulations. But
challenges exist like how to carry out the regulation.
Random visits to some 15 local shops that sell alcohol or cigarettes
discovered that just five of them displayed an obvious sign stating the
illegality of selling the products to minors.
Even shops that did display signs were seen still selling to schoolboys.
Shopkeepers claim there are no laws requiring them to demand identity cards
from customers and that they find it difficult to tell.
"Some of them say they're buying the products for their parents," said one
cigarette shopowner.
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