Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will amend its smoking-control law, banning indoor smoking in all public places, said Lei Chin Ion, director of the SAR's Health Bureau,on Sunday.

Aside from the banning of indoor smoking, new measures such as fixed penalty and image of warning posted on cigarette package will be adopted in the new law, said Lei, on the sideline of local "World No Tobacco Day" campaign.

The SAR has increased the duty on cigarettes from 0.05 pataca ( 0.006 U.S. dollar) to 0.2 pataca per stick, which is an increment of 300 percent. Statistics from the Bureau indicated that 17 percent of the local population are smokers.

Instead of targeting the local smokers, the new measures are aimed at creating an environment which is beneficiary to both the smokers and non-smokers, said Lei.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2009)