Italy cafe owners vow to rebel against smoking ban

Italy's cafe and restaurant owners said on Wednesday they would defy a smoking ban that comes into force in the new year requiring them to call the police if their customers continue to smoke.

The law will ban smoking in bars, restaurants and cafes. Owners face fines of up to 2,000 euros ($2,725) and may have their license revoked if they fail to enforce it.

"We are against a campaign which is a real witch hunt," said Edi Sommariva, head of the trade body FIPE which represents 240,000 bars, restaurants and nightclubs across Italy.

"Managers of these places will not report those who continue to smoke after they have asked them not to," FIPE said, adding it backed the ban in principle, but not the way it will be policed.

The trade body says the law is the most rigid in Europe, which has seen Ireland, Norway and Malta introduce similar bans this year.

Italian restaurateurs and publicans say they do not fear the ban itself as opinion polls and Ireland's experience indicate they will not lose custom even if smokers are forced out onto the pavement.

Their main concern is the requirement that they grass on their clients.

Not only would this break the principle that the customer is always right, it would be unworkable when the police arrive only to find the smoker has put out his cigarette and denies he was smoking, FIPE said.

FIPE also wants discos and bingo halls exempt from the ban as well as cafes in Italy's historic town centers where pavements may be unable to accommodate smokers and where building laws would prevent the creation of specially ventilated smoking rooms.

Anti-smoking campaigners say the law is too weak as some restaurants might set up such smoking zones.

"It's a step forward but not what it could have been. We have only one quarter of what's needed," said Marco Ramadori, head of one of Italy's main consumer associations, Codacons, which is staunchly anti-smoking.

The ban was originally due to come into force on Wednesday Dec. 29, but was delayed until Jan. 10 to avoid problems over the festive Christmas and New Year period.