Health Ministry doesn't have agents selling no-smoking signage

The Health Ministry does not have agents selling no-smoking signage at restaurants and food premises, deputy minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said today.

Lee said action would be taken against any quarters selling the signage if there were reports that they claimed to be agents from the ministry, following the government’s move to ban smoking in food premises from January next year.

"The ministry received reports that there were quarters selling the no-smoking signage for RM10,” the Gopeng MP told reporters after a gotong-royong programme organised by Kinta health office in Ipoh today.

Lee said owners of food premises and restaurants could buy or make their own no-smoking signage according to the stipulated measurement of 40cm x 50cm.

“It is not a problem if the size is smaller, as long as the signage is displayed," he added.

Lee said the signage did not need to have the ministry's logo and could be in other languages, besides Malay.

“It must have the no-smoking logo,” he said, adding that only one signage would suffice at each food premises as long as it could be seen by customers, failing which the owners could be fined up to RM3,000.

- Bernama