A New Taipei City man who challenged a fine he received for importing e-cigarettes won the suit, after a district court ruled that the products fell outside of the scope of current tobacco laws.
The man, surnamed Yang (楊), was fined NT$10,000 for contravening the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) when he imported a case of e-cigarettes in May last year.
Saying the fine was unjust, Yang filed an administrative appeal.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times
In the ruling on Feb. 24, the New Taipei District Court judge said that as the e-cigarettes Yang imported were not in the shape of cigarettes they could not be regulated under the act.
Whether the manufacture, import or sale of e-cigarette devices that are not in the shape of cigarettes should be legally regulated when they do not contain nicotine products remains a problem for lawmakers to discuss, the judge said.
Enforcement of such products in the absence of relevant laws affects free trade and property rights, the judge said.
During the trial Yang argued that the e-cigarettes — which were listed as “props” on the customs waybill — could not be used for smoking on their own.
Nicotine-containing oils must be inserted into the devices before they can be used for smoking, he said.
Also, as the devices were not in the shape of cigarettes, they could not be used to promote smoking, and therefore should not be regulated under tobacco laws, he said.
The Health Promotion Administration’s classification of e-cigarette devices as tobacco products was its own expansion of the scope of tobacco laws, which do not cover these devices, the judge said.
Meanwhile, the New Taipei City Government said that it advocated including “complete e-cigarette devices, as well as all e-cigarette device components” in the act.
The e-cigarettes imported by Yang had an overall tubular shape similar to that of a cigar, and produce smoke using a solenoid, it said, adding that the devices should be regulated under the act due to their shape and design.
The judge said that the size, weight, shape and color of the devices were all distinguishable from cigars or cigarettes.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS