A draft act to regulate the use and sale of betel nuts would be put on hold, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday amid strong resistance from the nation’s betel nut industry.
The draft would have included a list of venues where chewing betel nut is prohibited, required dealers to get a license, and banned pregnant women and minors from using the stimulant.
The bill’s 60-day preview period ended yesterday.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Officials received more than 4,500 written opinions demanding that implementation of the law be postponed, the ministry said in a statement.
Local groups have long argued for tighter regulations for betel nuts, also known as areca nuts, a product the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies as a Category 1 carcinogen.
The draft would have prohibited betel nut chewing at schools, social welfare facilities, cultural and educational venues, government offices and on public transportation, a preview of its provisions published in December last year showed.
Chewing the stimulant in a betel nut-free zone would be punishable by a fine of NT$2,000 to NT$10,000, it said.
Wholesalers and retailers of betel nut operating without a license would face a fine of NT$10,000 to NT$50,000, it said.
The ministry received 4,423 written responses from the public and more than 100 statements from local government offices, mostly arguing that the act’s promulgation should be delayed, Department of Oral Health Director-General Chang Yung-ming (張雍敏) was cited as saying.
The proposal to ban betel nut chewing in some locations and a licensing scheme for dealers elicited the most opposition, Chang said, adding that others expressed concerns about safety certification standards.
The ministry plans to rewrite the law after new rounds of discussions with health experts and the industry to ensure their concerns are addressed, he said.
The government’s responsibility for transparency and taking public opinion into account in making laws means that the ministry has no fixed schedule for unveiling a revised version of the act, he said.
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