Questions are being raised about the motivation behind new calls to stop people from smoking outside bars and restaurants.

A decade after it was made illegal for people to smoke inside the Local Government New Zealand has passed a remit asking government to ban people from lighting up outside.

Hospitality New Zealand head Bruce Robertson notes when smoking was banned in bars it was a health issue.

But he believes it's not clear that smoking in a ventilated outside area is a health danger.

"It's probably going further than necessary, it's a social engineering approach, rather than a health issue."

He thinks it should be about giving patrons the right to choose.

"While the number of smokers is declining, it's the still around 20 percent that do, I am sure the industry would still want to be able to give that opportunity to their customers."

New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world to legislate a smokefree office environment, with the introduction of the Smoke-free Environments Act 1900.

In 2003 an amendment to the act was made, which banned smoking in all workplaces and licensed premises, such as bars and restaurants.