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.
DOING ENOUGH? The HPA budgets NT$1.3 billion to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but has no separate budget to fight teen drinking, a doctor said The government should step up alcohol education and prevention efforts, and allocate more of the budget to it, doctors said on Friday, citing the high consumption of alcohol among Taiwanese adolescents. One out of four 12-to-17-year-olds has consumed alcohol, said Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海), director of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Department of Clinical Toxicology. The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) budgets NT$1.3 billion (US$43.9 million) annually to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but it has not allocated a separate budget for preventing teenage drinking or excessive alcohol use, Yen said. “There is no so-called ‘safe drinking level’ for minors,” because any amount consumed
The Fancy Frontier manga and anime expo held in Taipei over the weekend has sparked controversy, after a participant allegedly contravened the Act on Offenses Against Sexual Morality (妨害風化罪) by publicly exposing her private parts during a photo shoot. The two-day event opened at the Expo Dome at the Taipei Expo Park on Saturday, attracting numerous comic and anime creators, cosplayers, photographers and fans. Allegedly, a female cosplayer who was not wearing any underwear lifted up her skirt and revealed her private parts at an outdoor photography area near the venue. Event organizers said yesterday that to prevent indecent exposure, they have since
YOUNGEST PATIENT: Cases of botulism have been only sporadically reported over the past few years, with two in 2015, six in 2016 and none in the past three years The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of infant botulism this year, a four-month-old boy in northern Taiwan, as well as five new cases of Japanese encephalitis confirmed last week. The boy was introduced to homemade solid food in the middle of last month, but began to experience constipation and loss of appetite on June 23, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said, adding that he was taken to the hospital when he developed a fever and shortness of breath on June 25. In the hospital, the boy also experienced a rapid heartbeat, limb
The National Taiwan Museum’s Railway Department Park in Taipei is to open to the public today. The park in Datong District (大同) near the North Gate (北門, Beimen) is one of the museum’s four branches. During the Japanese colonial era, the site housed the railway department of the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan’s Bureau of Transportation. After World War II, it served as the headquarters for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) for several decades. In 2007, it was listed as a national monument under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法). At an opening ceremony yesterday, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung
RSS