Bars and restaurants are increasingly complying with the smoking ban according to a new report from the Dutch health and safety board NVWA.

Last year the organisation handed out 1,150 fines, compared with 1,600 in 2015, despite carrying out fewer checks.

The organisation carried out nearly 4,700 inspections of cafes and clubs following complaints and other signals that the ban may be being broken. These inspections resulted in 723 fines and 457 written warnings, the NVWA said.

Over 20,000 other hospitality industry outlets were inspected, but just 3% resulted in some form of penalty.

A blanket smoking ban came into force in the Netherlands in 2008 but in 2010 the law was amended to allow small bars without staff to permit smoking on their premises. In 2013 the cabinet decided to include all bars in the ban.

Fines for allowing smoking can range from €400 up to a maximum of €4,500 for frequent infringements.

Tobacco sales

The NVWA figures also show that tobacconists are selling less tobacco to under-18s. Some 43% of sellers complied with the rules in 2016, compared to 27% in 2015.

Some 70% of supermarkets did not sell tobacco to under-18s but only around 30% of bars and other venues upheld the rule.  This can result in fines or a ban on selling tobacco altogether for a period of one to twelve weeks. The NVWA issued 11 such bans in 2016.

Junior health minister Martin van Rijn is happy with the results but says more needs to be done to discourage smoking. This spring he plans to publish draft legislation which will force shops to remove tobacco products from public view.