Inside Asian Gaming

November 2012 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 35 In Focus Rather than having to impose physical barriers, existing casinos can implement transition zones between smoking and non-smoking areas, in the form of either areas with strong ventilation systems or a four-meter cordon. They can also utilize “air curtains” or install physical barriers at least two meters high between the two areas. Casinos will have to submit their plans for complying with the new regulations to the Health Bureau by 1st January for approval. Despite the looming 1st January deadline for implementation, all the casino operators spoken to by Inside Asian Gaming express confidence that they will be able to smoothly implement the new rules. Mr Lei, meanwhile, stressed, “We are confident the concessionaires will have enough time.” Still in the Dark on VIP Rooms Although the 30th October Official Gazette provided much relief to casino operators, it failed to offer clarity on how VIP rooms are to be treated. Strictly speaking, VIP rooms could be considered mini casinos, because they contain their own cages, in which case each should contain its own smoke-free zone. It’s more likely, though, that VIP rooms will be counted as part of a property’s total gaming area. The probable result, then, is that almost all of them will remain smoking areas, with a greater proportion of the main floor designated as non-smoking. The very ambiguity created by the failure to distinguish between VIP rooms and main gaming areas means they will by default be considered the same. “There is a maxim in law, according to which, where a law makes no distinctions an interpreter should not distinguish either” explains Jorge Godinho, associate professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Macau. “My interpretation is that the law leaves room for casino concessionaires to allocate the 50% in a flexible manner, as they may see fit,”he adds. From a legal point of view,“VIP rooms do not have a specific treatment for the purpose of smoking restrictions. A distinction does exist for some other purposes, such as taxation and statistics, but Law 5/2011 does not make a distinction between VIP rooms and the mass-market areas,” stressed Mr Godinho. Even in health-conscious Australia, pragmatism prevails with regard to VIP gaming. In New South Wales, a ban on smoking in all enclosed areas of restaurants, The [Macau] government’s policy aim is for casinos to be entirely smoke free in the long run. licensed clubs and pubs came into force in July 2007, but an exception was made and remains in place for the private gaming areas (VIP rooms) in Sydney’s Star casino Ongoing Monitoring and Workers’ Health According to the dispatch in the Official Gazette, casino operators are required to monitor the air quality within their smoking areas and submit a monthly report to the Health Bureau, which will also conduct regular checks. An air quality report should also be posted beside the smoking signs. In case the concentration of pollutants in the smoking area is higher than the standards stated in the Official Gazette dispatch, the companies will have “an appropriate period” to fix the issue. The Health Bureau also published on 31st October guidelines for the prevention of diseases and protection of workers’health while carrying out their jobs in smoking areas of casinos. Among workers who are not allowed to work in smoking areas are pregnant women, women who have given birth within three months, and workers with cardiac or respiratory illnesses. For other staff there will be a mandatory rotation system between smoking and non-smoking areas. Three local casino workers’ associations have expressed concern that the non- smoking areas will be set predominantly in areas of slot machines, where the concentration of staff is low, rather than