New Taipei City is on Friday next week to promulgate a citywide ban on e-cigarette use in venues where smoking is prohibited, city officials said on Thursday, adding that the ban would take effect two days after promulgation.
The ordinance, which would also ban the production of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, has been approved by the Executive Yuan, the New Taipei City Department of Health said.
Businesses that breach the ordinance would be fined up to NT$100,000 and have their license revoked, it said.
Photo courtesy the New Taipei City Department of Health
Businesses that sell the prohibited items or their components to minors would face additional fines of up to NT$50,000, it added.
Nicotine inhaled through e-cigarettes is addictive and harmful to people’s health, New Taipei City Department of Health Director Chen Ran-chou (陳潤秋) said.
From 2018 to last year, the share of Taiwanese adults who used e-cigarettes increased almost threefold, from 0.6 percent to 1.7 percent, she said.
Authorities recorded 208 cases of minors using e-cigarettes from January last year to last month, she added.
Fines for e-cigarette use in the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法), from NT$1,000 to NT$3,000, are insufficient and several people who appealed their fines in court have had them repealed, she said.
The ordinance would close loopholes in the law, she said, adding that it would also prohibit advertising for and the importation of the items.
People who are found to use e-cigarettes in areas where smoking is banned would be fined up to NT$10,000, she said.
Smokers who want to quit should seek help from specialists or call the 0800-636-363 hotline, she said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS