Beijing Summons 13 Institutions Including Peking University Over Weak Tobacco Control

Jinghua Times News (Reporter Ma Jinfeng) — Yesterday, the Beijing Municipal Health Inspection Office held its first collective meeting with 13 institutions cited for inadequate tobacco control, including Peking University and Beijing Workers' Stadium. In the future, organizations and individuals penalized for violating tobacco control regulations will be placed on a "blacklist of dishonesty."

All 13 institutions had each received more than five complaints in total, not including complaints made through the 12320 hotline. Of the 13 called in for the meeting, Ruichuang International Center and Allianz Tower did not attend. Wang Benjin, deputy director of the municipal health inspection office, said the two sites will be inspected again soon.

Wang Benjin said that going forward, the municipal health inspection office will strengthen supervision, law enforcement inspections, and penalty decisions for institutions that fail to attend such meetings. These meetings will become a long-term mechanism for tobacco control work. The next step will be to conduct a focused round of meetings with the catering industry, where smoking violations are considered the most serious.

At present, organizations found in violation of tobacco control rules have already begun to be publicly named on the official website of the municipal health inspection office. Next, a dedicated platform will be established, and violations by both institutions and individuals will be publicly exposed through the websites of the Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission and the Capital Window portal, among others.

The Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission will also strengthen supervision and law enforcement in key sectors. If any penalized unit or individual falls under the scope of administrative supervision, the case will also be reported to supervisory authorities as a clue involving suspected violations of administrative discipline. In addition, the municipal health inspection office is drafting standards to place organizations and individuals penalized for poor tobacco control on the "blacklist of dishonesty."

Based on the complaints received, the main problem areas are office buildings and catering establishments. The most common complaints were: failure to stop smokers (77.6%); failure to post no-smoking signs and complaint hotline numbers (15.3%); and providing smoking utensils (7.1%). The main reason for these complaints is that these organizations and venues have failed to properly implement their primary responsibility in daily management, while industry supervision has also been lacking. As of July 31, there were 35 organizations in the city found non-compliant with tobacco control rules, accounting for 10% of all inspections.

>> The 13 institutions called in for the meeting

Rock Times Center, Perfect World Building, Ruichuang International Center, RONGKE Wangjing Center, Zhubang 2000, Lianyou Internet Café, Beijing Workers' Stadium, Allianz Tower, Shoudu International Center, Wangjing SOHO Building (Wangjing Branch of Beijing Jinrong Property Management Co., Ltd.), Wangjing Ulehui (Second Branch of Beijing Property Management Co., Ltd., MCC Real Estate Group), Peking University, Jinyu Dacheng Times Office Building