A ban on e-cigarettes and restrictions on heated tobacco products (HTPs) went into effect yesterday, with offenders facing a hefty fine of up to NT$50 million (US$1.64 million).
The Legislative Yuan on Jan. 12 passed amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防治法), which the president promulgated on Feb. 15 and took effect yesterday.
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said the biggest changes are a ban on e-cigarettes — including manufacturing, importing, selling, offering, displaying or advertising e-cigarette products and device components — and requiring HTPs to pass a health risk assessment review by the Ministry of Health and Welfare before they can be manufactured, imported or sold.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
It also raises minimum age for smoking to 20, bans smoking on all school campuses, increases the size of the required health warnings on cigarette boxes to 50 percent of a package’s surface and bans the use of prohibited additives in tobacco products.
The maximum fine for those who manufacture, import, sell, offer or advertise e-cigarette products, or unapproved HTPs, is NT$50 million, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said.
Users of e-cigarettes or non-approved HTPs could be fined up to NT$10,000, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taitung County Government
While e-cigarettes are strictly banned, HTPs may be sold on the market after passing a health risk assessment, so a strict clampdown on these products is to start immediately, Hsueh said.
There have been misleading advertisements and disinformation about new tobacco products, he said, adding that there are many unlisted chemicals in vaping liquid and aerosols that can damage people’s health.
HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said that starting yesterday, the HPA and local health departments would work together to crack down on illegal tobacco products, including at physical stores, night markets and online platforms, as well as door-to-door sales and other distribution channels.
The agency urged e-commerce platforms to strictly censor the items sold on their Web sites and take down illegal tobacco products or face a fine, Wu added.
HPA Smoke Hazard Prevention Division senior technical specialist Liu Chia-hsiu (劉家秀) said the agency’s survey found that traditional cigarette smoking rates among high-school students have dropped, but the proportion of high-school students smoking e-cigarettes has increased in recent years.
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