Reconsidering Restaurant Bans

　　Recently， a statement by the Beijing Administrationfor Industry and Commercestopping restaurants and catering servicesfrom banning outside beverages has provokedheated debate among the public.

　　The administration’s announcementimmediately met fierce contention. Threedays after it was made public， the ChinaCuisine Association demanded the administrationapologize for the regulation， arguingthat under a market economy， consumershave the right to purchase what theylike， and enterprises have the right to havetheir own values， under which they providetheir products and services.

　　The story didn’t end with the denouncementfrom the association. On December14， 2013， China’s Supreme People’s Courtadjudicated on the matter， ruling that restaurantsand other food service businessesmay not be allowed to ban outside beverages.

　　This incident sparked further debateamong the public about whether restaurantsshould be allowed to ban outsidebeverages. Supporters of restaurant autonomybelieve enterprises should havethe right to conduct business as theychoose. Opponents believe that it is unfairfor restaurants to impose a ban on outsidedrinks because restaurants bear no additionalcost.

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