Japan looks to strengthen rules in bid to curtail passive smoking

A health ministry expert panel Thursday broadly agreed on a plan to introduce a notification system for smoking-oriented facilities as part of efforts to prevent passive smoking.

Meanwhile, the panel, which has been reviewing measures against secondhand smoking, stopped short of strengthening regulations on heated tobacco products.

The revised health promotion law, which went into force in April 2020, bans indoor smoking at various facilities, including restaurants, in principle. Customers at certain facilities, such as bars, are allowed to smoke indoors.

In the draft proposal, the panel said that some facilities that do not meet the requirements for such facilities are operating as such, and local governments are unable to accurately grasp the actual situation.

Against this background, the panel aims to introduce a notification system for smoking-oriented facilities to ensure that administrative guidance reaches all relevant establishments.

Heated tobacco products are subject to a transitional measure allowing their use in smoking rooms at restaurants and other establishments, as their health effects were not yet clear when the law was revised.

In the draft proposal, the panel said that while secondhand smoke from heated tobacco products contains harmful substances such as carcinogens, there is not yet sufficient accumulated evidence regarding the health effects of secondhand smoke from these products.

The panel will continue to conduct research and reconsider tighter regulations “when new knowledge is obtained,” the draft proposal said, deciding not to tighten regulations on heated tobacco products to the same extent as those on conventional cigarettes for now.