Lawmakers yesterday approved the third reading of proposed amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防治法), which would require heated tobacco products (HTPs) to comply with the law, ban e-cigarettes and raise the legal age for buying cigarettes to 20.
People who use HTPs or e-cigarettes that are not approved by authorities would face a fine of NT$2,000 to NT$10,000 (US$65.66 to US$328.32), the amendments say.
Entities that sell or manufacture such products would be required to present samples of their products and necessary components, such as heaters for HTPs, when submitting health risk assessment reports, according to the amendments.
Photo: CNA
Tobacco products and related devices cannot be advertised or promoted in any way, nor can distributors claim they have passed health risk assessments, they say.
The amendments place e-cigarettes in the “cigarette-like product” category, effectively banning their use as well as the sale, provision or manufacturing of their necessary components.
Those who manufacture, import, provide or advertise tobacco products, or non-approved HTPs, would face fines of NT$10 million to NT$50 million, the amendments say.
Offenders who are not business owners would be fined NT$50,000 to NT$5 million, they say.
People who incur fines would be granted a grace period, after which they could be fined for repeat offenses, according to the amendments.
The amendments also ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and forbid tobacco companies or the manufacturers of necessary components from donating directly or indirectly to events, natural or legal persons or groups to promote or advertise their products.
Tobacco products must contain warning labels that cover at least half of the packaging, they say.
The amendments also ban smoking around all schools and childcare facilities.
The clauses on e-cigarettes and HTPs are to take effect one month after the amendments’ contents are announced to the public.
The clauses on vapes with additional flavors as well as regulations on packaging are to take effect one year after the amendments are announced.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS