The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed an amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), which includes increased punishments for manufacturing or importing counterfeit or banned drugs.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that the amendment aims to increase the liability of pharmaceutical companies and establish a tracing mechanism to report drug shortages, as well as improving drug use instructions to better inform the patients, while creating a mechanism for emergency manufacturing or imports of drugs and better drug source management.
Before the amendment, pharmaceutical companies or people who produced or imported counterfeit or banned drugs faced a maximum fine of NT$10 million (US$303,260) and a maximum jail term of 10 years.
The amendment increased the maximum fine to NT$100 million, but it can climb as high as NT$200 million if the drugs cause any deaths, while prison terms remain unchanged.
As for drugs that fail to meet standards imposed by authorities, the companies that manufacture or import them are to face fines ranging between NT$100,000 and NT$5 million — a significant rise from the previously enforced fines ranging between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 — as well as the confiscation of any illegal gains from sale of the drugs.
Moreover, if pharmaceutical companies find it difficult to continue supplying necessary drugs designated by the government for any reason, they are to report to the authorities within six months, or at least 30 days if the supply interruption is caused by a natural disaster or accident.
Regarding an article of the amendment that requires the clarification of drug use instructions for easier understanding, the Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation urged the FDA to set a schedule for enforcing a reform of drug package labeling and instructions, saying the reform should begin with over-the-counter drugs.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS