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.
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