The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal that would raise the legal age for smoking to 20, as well as expand a list of areas where smoking is prohibited.
The proposed amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防治法) include redefining tobacco products, which would put e-cigarettes on a list of tobacco products that are banned from manufacturing, import, sale, provision, display, promotion and use.
E-cigarettes have “clearly provided a way for young people and those who have not smoked before to begin smoking,” the amendments say, adding that e-cigarettes, or vaping, could damage the lungs as they contain additives.
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Heated tobacco products or products with additives that have unknown health risks must apply for a health risk assessment by government authorities before they can be manufactured or imported, they say.
The legal smoking age is to be raised from 18 to 20, the amendments say, citing a US study showing that people who are older when they first come into contact with nicotine would find it less addictive.
The legal age for smoking in the US, Singapore and Thailand is 20 or 21, they say.
Raising the age requirement to purchase tobacco products would be equivalent to increasing tobacco taxes by 40 percent, they say.
Warning labels on tobacco packages should cover 85 percent of the package — up from 35 percent now — to increase their visibility and encourage smokers to quit, as well as warn young people about the health risks of smoking.
The amendments also ban manufacturers from adding scents and flavors to tobacco products, as well as other prohibited additives as decreed by the government.
This could prevent young people from trying tobacco products out of curiosity, or arrive at the wrong conclusion that scented or flavored cigarettes are less harmful than conventional cigarettes, the Executive Yuan said.
Smoking would be banned in all school campuses, kindergartens, daycare centers and residences used as childcare centers, while bars, lounges and clubs would be required to set up a designated smoking room and ban smoking on other parts of the premises, the amendments say.
The amendments would also increase the fines on establishments manufacturing, importing, selling, providing, displaying or promoting “tobacco-like products,” or tobacco products that have not undergone mandatory health assessments.
Tobacco-like products refer to products that have changed tobacco materially or use other materials that are not tobacco-based, but allow the user to simulate what smokers do, the amendments say.
The proposal is to be forwarded to the Legislative Yuan for review and approval.
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