Liberal use of fireworks disrupt public peace
On the evening of June 16, an expat friend of mine asked me “What are these massive fireworks for?” I said it’s for the event taking a place in front of Drama Theater in Ulaanbaatar for the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. Did you have to re-read the above statement to understand what the fireworks were for?
If you have lived in Mongolia for a few years, or stayed in Ulaanbaatar in December of any year, I am sure you have experienced the “firework season” in Mongolia.
It seems like people cannot celebrate any big event without fireworks. The months in which fireworks are mostly used are December, September and July (recently added since we have started setting off fireworks for Naadam, the biggest traditional celebration in Mongolia). The peak use is in December, when almost everyone gets to participate in, let’s say, several New Year’s parties. Fireworks have become an issue for many people and families, especially the ones who live downtown where most celebrations take place.
What are the positive or negative impacts of fireworks? The positive ones are obvious. It is a pleasure to people’s eyes and a great way to end an event. But the negative impacts are numerous and sufficient to justify some regulation on fireworks use, because of the following impacts:
Environment impact: there are indirect effects, but the most obvious are the heavy metals and residual smoke which pollutes the air and soil; Disturbance to people, animals property; and Injuries from unregulated firework products and safety violation while setting off fireworks.
Fortunately, Mongolia does have some regulations on fireworks, including product standards and safety rules. This was predicated by the many serious injuries which occurred in 2010s. The regulations had a positive impact, decreasing the numbers of purchasers and raising safety standards.
There are two principal regulations on fireworks in Mongolia:
The Law on Monitoring the Circulation of Explosive Substances and Blasting Items, which is the only law that regulates firework-related matters in the country; and
The Rules on Importing and Using Pyrotechnics, which is the only rule on firework-related matters.
The law gives clear definitions on what is to be considered fireworks (pyrotechnics) and declares the pyrotechnics-related matters shall be regulated by the government (Section 4.1.3 and 7.1). The rules only cover the distinction between entertainment fireworks and consumer fireworks, (Article 2 of the Rules) and the local emergency department and police shall monitor an entity setting up an entertainment fireworks display (Article 18). There is no clear regulation as to whether it is permissible to sell fireworks to minors. Since the law and rules came into force, accidental injuries caused by fireworks have decreased perceptibly, by setting standards to ban nonstandard fireworks from the market.
On the other hand, unlike some developed countries, such as the UK, the US and Germany, there is no regulations on dates and time limitations on when fireworks may be used. For example, in the UK, fireworks cannot be set off between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., except for Bonfire Night when the cut-off is midnight, New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year when the cut off is 1:00 a.m. Also, in the UK you can only buy fireworks (including sparklers) from registered sellers for private use on certain dates such as October 15 to November 10, December 26 to 31, and three days before Diwali and Chinese New Year.
In Germany, by law it is permissible to sell fireworks only in the time period from December 28 to 31. Lighting fireworks at any other time of the year requires special permission from the local authorities.
In the US, unless the state had a blanket ban which defaults to the federal fireworks regulations, each state has its regulations on fireworks. Most states regulate an age limit for buyers, but only a few regulate the dates you can buy and light fireworks. For example, Missouri permits all types of consumer fireworks to be sold to residents with two selling seasons as follows: June 20-July 10 and December 20-January 2, the Independence Day and New Year’s celebration days.
What Mongolia now needs is some regulations for disturbance to people. It is understandable and reasonably acceptable when it is the New Year’s celebration to set off fireworks, and more recently the Naadam festival. But when it is simply someone’s wedding and fireworks are being set off at midnight or even later on random days, it is not acceptable or fair for the people living in close proximity.