Retailers have seen sales of child car seats surge over the past two months after the government approved regulations requiring that children under the age of four or weighing under 18kg use the seats when traveling in cars.
The regulation, promulgated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, was scheduled to take effect yesterday but was postponed at the last minute to Sept. 1.
"Sales [of child car seats] have grown 10-fold since the government started to publicize the new policy in April," said Linda Chen (陳碧玉), marketing manager of Les Enphants Group (麗嬰房), a major retailer of children's garments with 220 outlets nationwide, including independent outlets and shops in department stores.
Chen said that among their seats, which range in price from NT$4,000 to NT$20,000, the NT$10,000 model made by Japan-based Combi was the best-seller because it could be used for any child up to the age of 4.
"Customers like to buy something that can be used for a long time despite its higher price," she said.
Another retailer, Chickabiddy (奇哥), also saw sales double last month.
Its "Peter Rabbit" car seats, priced at NT$6,000, for newborns as well as children under four have become the customers' favorite, according to Chickabiddy's marketing manager Cheng Ling-ling (
Hypermarkets have focused on cheaper child car seats, while department stores have been selling multi-functional ones that cost more.
"Our products cost between NT$1,000 and NT$4,000. Sales have surged 10-fold in April and May," said Fiona Wang (
Another hypermarket chain, Far Eastern Geant (
Although demand is expected to continue to rise, especially after the law is formally implemented in September -- with fines of at least NT$500 on violators -- no retailer has run out of the seats so far.
"Suppliers have made preparations to replenish the products. Also, some parents are still unwilling to spend money on child seats unless the government starts to issue tickets," Cheng said.
With a wide variety of products on sale, the Cabinet-level Consumer Protection Commission warned that consumers must check safety labels before buying.
"In addition to the inspection label, the products should also bear the name and address of the manufacturer, manufacturing date, serial number, the child's weight it can sustain and installation method," said ombudsman Chiu Hui-mei (
When the commission examined 306 child car seats in 40 outlets nationwide last month, it found 41 models, or 13.4 percent, unqualified.
Any questions about car seats can be presented to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection under Ministry of Economic Affairs, she said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last