SP court bars free water law in restaurants – 09/14/2023 – Food

The Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo (TJ-SP) suspended this Wednesday (13) the effects of the state law that forced restaurants, bars and snack bars to provide free filtered water to customers.

Law 17,747/2023, which had been published in the Official Gazette of the São Paulo government also on Wednesday, had its effect suspended by an injunction granted by judge Luciana Bresciani, who responded to a request from the National Tourism Confederation (CNtur).

In the Direct Unconstitutionality Action, CNtur states that the law is an interference by the State in the exercise of private economic activity. The obligation to provide water, according to the entity, would affect the establishments’ revenues.

According to the decision of the TJ-SP, the new legislation is suspended until its constitutionality is resolved by the court.

In a note, the government of São Paulo states that it has already received the notification and that it will evaluate the appropriate legal measures.

Approved at the end of August at the State Legislative Assembly, Alesp, the law obliges every establishment in the state to display, in a visible location, a poster or menu indicating that filtered drinking water is free of charge.

Houses that fail to comply with the law will be subject to the sanctions of the Consumer Protection Code and other penalties to be defined by the Executive Branch.

“It is not correct for people to feel embarrassed about requesting, in a commercial establishment such as a restaurant, bar or similar, a glass of filtered water”, says deputy Átila Jacomussi (Solidarity), the author of the project.

According to the deputy, the project also defends the guarantee of the quality of the drink offered to customers.

In the city of São Paulo, a similar determination came into force in 2020. The “Water of the House” Law, sanctioned by then-mayor Bruno Covas, determined that bars, hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, bakeries, coffee shops and similar establishments could sell mineral water as much as you want, but with the obligation to also serve free filtered water to anyone who asks – and to clearly announce the practice on the menus.

In June 2022, the TJ-SP judged the law unconstitutional. The capital’s city hall appealed the decision. The request was accepted and the case was forwarded to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The case rapporteur is Minister Edson Fachin and there is no forecast for it to be analyzed