The National Chamber of the Restaurant and Seasoned Food Industry (Canirac) of Mexico obtained an injunction to indefinitely suspend the decree to reform the General Law for Tobacco Control that came into force last January.
On July 13, the Fourteenth Collegiate Court in Administrative Matters of the First Circuit granted Canirac the definitive suspension of the decree,” the organization, which represents 600,000 establishments nationwide, said in a statement on Monday.
In Mexico, a new regulation of the General Law for Tobacco Control entered into force on January 15 that prohibits smoking in 100% smoke-free public spaces and in other places of collective concurrencesuch as stadiums, squares, parks, beaches and even hotels.
The regulations, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most advanced, also prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places without exclusive areas for smokers.
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However, Canirac filed an amparo lawsuit by ensuring that the restaurant industry already complied with regulations that protect “the right to free development of the personality of smokers.”
In addition, he argued that the new law does not protect non-smokers more, “rather it generates a series of restrictions and prohibitions in the industry whose purpose is to limit the exercise of other human rights, such as being forced to discriminate and deny customer service”.
Likewise, it indicated that the established normative system complied with the purposes of the decree, “in a less restrictive way to other rights, as the General Law for Tobacco Control continues to indicate.”
The chamber specified that the suspension of the reform to the regulations applies to all those restaurants affiliated with the Chamber that demonstrate their affiliation and have a current operating license that complies with the Regulations of the General Law for Tobacco Control prior to the Reform.
One of the main objectives of Canirac is to look after the interests of our affiliates and the restaurant sector. Today more than ever we are clear that we are a strong and united industry. This suspension is the result of the joint work that we carry out every day,” said Germán González, national president of Canirac.
According to data from the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), It is estimated that in Mexico there are about 15 million smokers and it is estimated that a tobacco consumer smokes 7.4 cigarettes a day and that the approximate age at which adolescents begin their consumption is 14 years.
The government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has combated tobacco use and has sought to ban vapers and electronic cigarettes.
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