A new regulation went into effect on July 1 to
prevent the sale of alcohol to under-18s, but experts have
criticized it as having no deterrent effect.
"It can only be treated as a recommendation," said Tong Lihua,
director of the Beijing Juvenile Legal Aid and Research Center. "It
does not list any penalty clauses, so violators can only be
condemned morally without any legal liability."
The Ministry of Commerce's
Supervisory Regulation on Alcoholic Drinks Retailing refers to
drinks with a concentration of alcohol of over 0.5 percent, and is
the first rule to target vendors.
Legislation passed by the National People's
Congress (NPC)?in
1999 referred briefly to underage drinking but was directed at
minors themselves and has not been widely enforced.
"The regulation does not say who will enforce it,"
said Pi Yijun, juvenile delinquency professor at the China
University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), adding that it is
equivalent to no more than a court order.
?
With these kinds of gaps in the regulation, Pi
suggested that the public should be mobilized to help supervise
vendors.
The Law on Prevention of Minors Committing Crimes
and the Law on the Protection of Minors are currently being
revised, and penalty clauses regarding the sale of alcohol to
under-18s are reportedly being considered.
(China.org.cn by Unisumoon, July 14, 2005)