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Store fined for selling cigarettes to minors

Writer: Zhang Yu  | Editor: Lily A  | From:  | Updated: 2018-07-20

A department store in Pingshan District paid a fine of 30,000 yuan (US$4,452) Monday for selling cigarettes to minors, becoming the first violator to receive such a penalty in the country, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Wednesday.

Wanzhong Department Store was caught selling cigarettes to middle school students during an anti-smoking raid near Long-xiang Middle School in Pingshan District on June 27.

At noon that day, a few students went to the store to get some cigarettes. The shop assistant neither dissuaded them nor checked their IDs to see whether they were adults.

The scene was filmed by the reporters who had joined the anti-smoking raid. Afterwards, the Pingshan market and supervision authority launched an investigation and issued a fine to the store.

At first, when faced with the unexpected fine, the store owner surnamed Ma thought that the amount of the penalty was too large to accept. However, she later admitted to the illegal act of selling tobacco to minors and accepted the administrative penalty.

According to the reporter from the Daily, the store has rolled out 11 measures to rectify the issue since the punishment.

For instance, shop assistants are strictly prohibited from selling cigarettes to minors and should identify them by their clothing or ask them to show their ID cards if necessary. Meanwhile, the store will cooperate with schools and inform them of students who try to buy cigarettes.

The effective implementation of tobacco control regulations cannot solely rely on law enforcement departments, the report said. It is necessary for businesses, families and volunteers to make joint efforts, said Yang Jie, a fellow of the national tobacco control office.

According to a report released by the Shenzhen Tobacco Control Association last month, more than 90 percent of primary and secondary schools have stores selling cigarettes within a 100-meter radius.

In addition, among the students who have tried smoking, 35.5 percent of them obtained their cigarettes from friends or classmates, while 6.6 percent got them from home.

According to Shenzhen’s tobacco control regulations, selling cigarettes to minors is illegal and will result in a fine of 30,000 yuan.