As the Legislative Yuan considers amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) to clamp down on e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco products, the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Thursday said that it opposes both classes of tobacco.
HNB refers to a class of tobacco products that are electrically heated to generate smoke or an aerosol containing nicotine.
The Executive Yuan has drafted the original amendments and parts of the bill have passed their first reading at the legislature.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Health Promotion Administration
The bill would add a legal definition of e-cigarettes to national law, prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors and forbid the manufacture, import, sale, display or advertising of e-cigarettes that have not obtained pharmaceutical or medical device licenses.
While the bill makes no reference to HNB products, lawmakers during discussion of the bill have expressed a desire to regulate those products as well.
Commenting on the issue, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that the ministry is unequivocally opposed to e-cigarettes and HNB products, which it sees as a possible public health hazard.
However, more expert views are needed before the ministry can make specific recommendations for the control or regulation of the latter category, he said.
“My concern is that legislation would encourage the [HNB] industry to import, while an absence of legislation could lead to underground use of the product, only making enforcement more difficult,” he said.
The National Treasury Administration said the agency cannot tax e-cigarettes and HNB products, because the two classes of substances have no legal status under the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act (菸酒管理法).
Until the legal status of e-cigarettes and HNB products is clarified, they are to be confiscated by customs at the border as unauthorized imports and would not be exempt from tariffs, it said.
According to a paper published in March by academic journal Tobacco Control, HNB products are usually heated to temperatures exceeding 90°C, causing the release of formaldehyde cyanohydrin, which is “highly toxic at very low concentrations.”
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
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
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