The Cabinet yesterday reassured the public that there is an ample supply of toilet paper and there is no need to stockpile paper out of panic.
Amid reports yesterday that toilet paper was flying off shelves as consumers flocked to supermarkets due to reports that prices would rise dramatically next month, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said there is sufficient supply and people need not panic.
The Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee confirmed with supermarket chains that shelves have been replenished and there is sufficient stock, Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
The expected rise in toilet paper prices follows an increase in international pulp prices, but a rise in the retail prices of toilet paper would not affect the prices of other commodities, because toilet paper is an end product, Hsu said.
Some retail chains are still putting toilet rolls on sale at reduced prices and consumers’ bulk buying of toilet paper is caused by panic over the price rise, Hsu said, adding that the committee and the Fair Trade Commission would closely monitor short-term fluctuations in toilet paper prices to prevent price collusion.
Meanwhile, as the legislature starts its new session today, Premier William Lai (賴清德) is to address the Legislative Yuan to report on product prices, the proposed reactivation of a nuclear reactor and the government response following the deadly earthquake on Feb. 6.
Legislative caucuses only yesterday agreed on the starting date of the session during a cross-caucus meeting at which they requested that Lai report on those issues.
“The rise in toilet paper prices is not a simple matter,” People First Party caucus whip Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said. “During the oil crisis, the government did not intervene in the rise of retail prices until it was too late. It is a serious a matter.”
Lai should make a detailed report on government earthquake response, power supply and the rise in retail prices, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus convener Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) asked Lai to deliver written reports on the three issues raised by the KMT, in addition to a planned report on the Executive Yuan’s policy agenda.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS