Results of the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) first day to crack down violators of an environmental policy that limits the use of plastic bags and plastic disposable tableware suggest that most stores comply with the new law, the agency said yesterday.
After publicizing the second, stricter stage of the new policy for the past 45 days, environmental officials yesterday began to inspect stores.
On Jan. 1, the ban on free plastic bags and utensils extended from all government-run stores to department stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and almost every type of retailer, except street vendors. It's estimated that more than 50,000 stores have been affected by the implementation of the second round.
Due to limited manpower, only 831 department stores, shopping centers, warehouses and supermarkets were inspected yesterday.
Among them, eight stores received warnings for violating the new measures.
"I'm basically satisfied with the inspection results. We will re-evaluate results of the implementation [of the policy] in two months," EPA head Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said.
Hau stressed yesterday that affected stores should avoid a wait-and-see attitude because the policy would be carried out thoroughly without hesitation.
If violators are found to be still in violation of the law when inspectors return, in two to four weeks time, they will be fined NT$60,000, officials said.
The warnings, officials said, are to give offenders one last chance to comply and dispose of all banned plastic materials in stock.
The eight violators either offered customers plastic bags and containers (cups and dishes) for free or provided plastic bags whose thickness is less than 0.06mm, according to Yeh Jiunn-horng (
Yeh said the EPA yesterday received more than 70 calls from stores, mostly bakeries, bookstores, tea companies and unaffected stores to inquire if they were allowed to offer customers plastic bags.
Meanwhile, Yeh said, the EPA also heard of cases involving unaffected stores' charging customers for plastic bags.
"There's no law banning the action. But the problem will be solved by the market mechanism itself," Yeh said.
Yeh said that customers could either boycott such stores or be trained to carry reusable shopping bags.
Yeh said that the EPA was willing to see any action that would phase out plastic materials.
The EPA has set up a toll-free hotline, 0800-085717, to encourage the public to report violations or answer inquiries on the new policy.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard