A tobacco control alliance on Friday urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare not to impede proposed regulations to ban flavored cigarettes or postpone implementing the policy.
The alliance asked whether the ministry was opposing the legislative resolution to “ban flavored cigarettes outright” after it on Aug. 9 unveiled a preview of proposed regulations to ban 27 types of chemicals from being used in products such as cigarettes, vapes and heat-not-burn devices.
Additives used in flavored cigarettes encourage younger customers and women to smoke by reducing the sharp smell produced by cigarettes, Action Alliance on Basic Education chairman Wang Han-yang (王瀚陽) said.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Article 10 of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) stipulates that additives prohibited by the central government should not be used in tobacco products, and legislators have agreed to ban all flavored cigarette products, he said.
The ministry in March last year proposed banning only four flavors — floral, fruit, chocolate and mint — which was challenged, as it did not cover the top 10 most frequently used flavors, Wang said.
However, after a delay of 16 months, the ministry proposed banning only 27 additives, instead of all flavored additives, saying that the move would be in line with US and EU practices, he said.
The alliance on Friday last week handed over a letter of petition signed by 173 civic groups to representatives of the ruling and opposition party caucuses.
“Does the ministry attempt to invalidate the legislative proposal to ban flavored cigarettes outright by prohibiting only 27 additives?” the letter asks.
“Can the ministry’s statement be substantiated when most regulations of the same kind in the US and the 27 EU nations are aimed at flavors of cigarettes, and the EU in particular has banned all flavored cigarettes that mask the taste and smell of tobacco?” it asks.
Saying that flavored cigarettes should be banned in line with President William Lai’s (賴清德) “Healthy Taiwan” plan, the group asked: “Why did the ministry prohibit only 27 additives, despite more than 1,200 different flavored additives having been reported by manufacturers in the industry?”
“Can the ministry also prohibit conceptual flavors invented by tobacco companies — ‘arctic air’ and ‘tropical breeze’ for example — solely by banning the additives?” it asked.
The Food and Drug Administration has personnel that inspect and impose fines for “abnormal smells or flavors of foods,” but the Health Promotion Administration says it cannot regulate cigarette flavors “simply by smelling,” the group said.
“Why does the ministry have such a disparate attitude toward tobacco companies?” it asked.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
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
RSS