Food companies that advertise exaggerated or unproven therapeutic effects about their products are to face stricter penalties under updated rules that take effect immediately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
The agency said it has updated the Regulations on Handling Advertisements as Stipulated Under Article 45 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法第四十五條規定廣告處理原則), raising the fines for food advertisements that tout exaggerated or false therapeutic effects or mislead consumers with celebrity endorsements.
The changes raised the fines to between NT$40,000 and NT$4 million (US$1,278 and US$127,791), Planning and Technological Oversight Division Director-General Hsu Chao-kai (許朝凱) said.
Photo: CNA
Companies airing advertisements claiming to treat or cure conditions or symptoms can be fined NT$600,000 to NT$5 million, Hsu said.
As food advertisement offenses have risen in parallel with the amount of airtime they receive, the change increases the penalties for serial breachers, he said.
Advertisements that are aired on national television or shopping channels for 60 seconds or longer; include professionals, institutes or celebrities to endorse their product; show a contrasting picture of before and after use of the product; or cite unverified scientific data can all be fined, he said.
The FDA can increase the amount of fines per offense and add a certain sum based on how intentional the contravention was and how harmful the product could be, among other reasons, he said.
The FDA recorded 3,394, 4,574 and 7,472 contraventions of regulations on food advertisements in 2021, 2022 and last year respectively, resulting in total fines of NT$167 million, NT$133 million and NT$291 million.
Last year, 3,730 breaches, or 49.9 percent, were for advertisements online, while TV ads made up 41.8 percent of the cases, it said.
Current regulations on airtime cannot be applied to advertisements broadcast on TV screens outside of buildings or in MRT stations, he said.
As handheld devices supplant television, Hsu said that online advertisements greatly influence the public more than those on TV.
The agency is monitoring the extent to which online advertising affects people and is in talks with international companies about removing sites and groups posting advertisements that contravene the law, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary