KUWAIT: Environment Public Authority Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmed issued a decision on the conditions and regulations of smoking shisha in enclosed and semi-enclosed public places. The new regulations stress that smoking any form of tobacco is banned in schools, universities and health facilities, and set 19 conditions for serving shisha.

These include that the premises should be in a commercial or investment building, serving shisha only in open-air areas in shopping malls and licensed restaurants or cafes and semi-open areas in hotels that cannot be expanded without EPA approval.

There should also be automatic doors between smoking and non-smoking areas, a special 5-sq-m area for cleaning and preparing shisha, using disposable mouthpieces, clearly displaying a clear banning smoking by customers below 18 years of age, banning shisha delivery, safe storage of charcoal and several other conditions concerning safety and hygiene.

By A Saleh