Other owners plan to serve lunch smoke free while allowing smoking in the afternoon and evening – although this may bring them to the attention of the 100 health inspectors who have been sent out across the country to check on implementation of the new law. In the first three months, federal health ministry inspectors will only issue warnings, but after that fines will be applicable.

The new law looked shaky in its first days when it was pointed out that the statute as published contained a sentence in French, which made it inapplicable in Flanders. But this last-ditch attempt by smokers to torpedo the legislation was unsuccessful. A complete ban in all cafes is expected in 2012.

The new law does nothing to remedy a problem identified by the courts in 2009, when the previous law was ruled to be in breach of the principle of equality under the law. In an appeal brought by a bar owner who refused to ban smokers from his premises, the court said the division of cafes according to sales of food was unlawful. The new law continues to apply the same distinction.

Supporters of a total ban, including the League against Cancer, point out that the measure is intended to tackle the health risks of second-hand smoke, which go farther than the nuisance caused to diners. The league has promised to take legal action if its call for a total ban by 2012 is not met. The chances are very high that the first court case brought, whether by pro- or anti-smokers, will see the new law declared unlawful because the distinction between cafes is still present.

The catering industry is also affected by new legislation requiring all new cafes and restaurants to be equipped with “black-box” cash registers, which record not only all transactions for tax purposes but also the hours worked by personnel, for tax and social security reasons. The black boxes will be extended to all other establishments in 2013.

Meanwhile, VAT on restaurant meals has been cut from 21% to 12%, but customers are unlikely to notice any difference, as the industry has made it clear it will use the additional revenue to create jobs and help combat the black economy. Only a few businesses, such as restaurants in Ikea hypermarkets and the Bistrot ’t Ketelke in Ghent, have promised to pass all of the saving on to clients.

More new laws you should know

Letterboxes

All letterboxes must conform to existing regulations on height and width (minimum 23 x 3 centimetres) or deliveries will not be made, the Post Office has warned.

Post increase

A normal postage stamp goes up by 10 cents to 69 cents if bought in quantities of less than 10. Quantities over 10 remain 59 cents. Solar panels The premium for installing solar panels goes down from €450 per 100 kW hours to €350.

Public sales

Public sales of property by auction will now be completed in one sitting, instead of the current process, which spreads sales out over two days. The change will do away with the archaic system of paying a premium to the highest bidder on the first day if that bid was topped on the second day, which was almost always the case since serious buyers stayed away until the second day.

Auto testing

The cost of an MOT test goes up to €31 for petrol cars and €38 for diesel vehicles.

Company cars

The tax deduction for company cars is no longer dependent on the so-called fiscal horsepower, but the vehicle’s CO2 emissions.

Rubbish sorting

Residents of Brussels region are now obliged to sort their household rubbish or face a fine ranging from €62.50 to €625. The price of white rubbish bags goes up by around 10 cents, but the price of yellow bags for paper and blue bags for plastic, metal and drink cartons (PMD) has been cut to encourage sorting.

Media tax

A tax is now applied to USB sticks, MP3 players, set-top boxes and external computer hard drives to cover the losses of the music industry to downloading. A similar tax is being applied to blank cassettes, video cassettes and CDs, which have become less popular as media for copying. The tax levied will go to the performing rights organisation Sabam; critics claim the tax makes no allowance for legitimate uses of the media.

Equine identity

Horses and donkeys now have to be equipped with an identity chip embedded in the ear if they are to be traded or entered in competitions. Horses will also be issued with passports.

Service cheques

The number of service cheques – used to pay for cleaning, ironing and other domestic tasks – will be limited to 500 per year per household. Disabled and single-parent families retain the right to 2,000 a year.

Bank account taxes

Belgian banks that pay interest to account-holders resident in other EU countries now have to declare payment to the tax authorities of the country of residence. Many Dutch residents have already withdrawn large sums of cash from Belgian banks as a result of the new rules, with reports of tax patrols stationed at border crossings equipped with sniffer-dogs trained to detect banknotes being smuggled back into the Netherlands.