Bosnian hoteliers and restaurateurs are exclusive: Proposed smoking ban law eliminates jobs

The Association of Hoteliers and Restaurateurs claims that the draft law on smoking ban in the Federation is the most restrictive in Europe and will have devastating consequences on the tourism and hospitality industry in BiH.

The Association stated today that they operate in BiH, promote the beauties that BiH abounds with, and fight for every job, but, they add, the proposed draft law, according to all their calculations, leaves almost 20 percent of the population without a livelihood.

"These are clear figures obtained by simple comparison with neighboring countries and European countries that have adopted similar laws," stated the Association, adding that hoteliers and restaurateurs in BiH own more than 20,000 business entities, employing more than 150,000 people and ensuring livelihoods for more than 500,000 citizens in BiH.

They stated that the data from the PROI association, which advocates for the introduction of this law in the Federation, is not realistic and does not show the true picture.

The PROI association previously announced that the resistance to the adoption of such a law in the Federation "indicates a strategic and coordinated attack on effective legal measures which, if introduced, would have the potential to save thousands of lives of our country's citizens. Of course, the tobacco industry does not care about protecting the health and lives of citizens, but about its profit".

The Association of Hoteliers and Restaurateurs denies these accusations. They stated that they have submitted a set of measures to the proposer of the smoking ban law that must be included in the draft law to ensure that BiH has legal solutions that also exist in the legislation of the most developed countries, such as Germany and Austria.