License to smoke

Saudi Arabia’s higher authorities have approved regulations to issue licenses for cafés and restaurants offering shisha and other smoking products, according to a story in The Saudi Gazette.

In addition, the regulations will ban tobacco-smoking outlets from being established in the Central Haram Areas in Makkah and Madinah.

The story said that, according to well-informed sources, the new regulations are due to come into force after Ramadan.

The fee for licenses will be fixed in accordance with the size of the outlets, but will not exceed SR100,000 a year.

The sources reportedly said that the proceeds from the licenses would be spent on supporting the Ministry of Health in its anti-smoking programs and in its efforts to otherwise combat the adverse effects of smoking.

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs will make public the regulations.