The Health Promotion Administration today proposed an amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) to strengthen regulations against electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
The proposal allows the direct confiscation and destruction of these illegal products and enhances online supervision, Tobacco Control Division head Lo Su-ying (羅素英) said.
After receiving feedback, the agency would submit the proposal to the Executive Yuan for review on Tuesday next week, Lo said, accelerating the normal timeline due to the urgent need to strengthen regulations.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The act was amended on March 23, 2023, to prohibit the manufacture, import, sale, display, advertisement and use of e-cigarettes and unapproved heated tobacco products.
As of Jan. 31, 610,000 contraventions of the act had been recorded, including 654 cases involving e-cigarettes and 2,606 involving heated tobacco, 1,063 cases of illegal use and 150 cases involving 22 different social media and e-commerce platforms, the agency said.
The resulting fines issued total at NT$370 million (US$11.24 million), it said.
Current regulations do not allow e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products to be directly confiscated, meaning they must be returned to the owner even if fines are imposed, Lo said.
The proposed amendment would fill in this loophole, facilitating the accelerated confiscation and destruction of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, she said.
The proposal also stipulates that Internet service providers must remove illegal advertisements and restrict access to related content, Lo said.
Failure to delete content or cooperate with investigations would result in penalties, she said.
There have been previous cases of drugs within e-cigarettes, showing that these products not only influence personal health, but also cause societal problems, Lo said.
This proposed amendment would strengthen supervision to prevent these illegal products from circulating, she said.
Although 11 heated tobacco businesses have applied for a health risk assessment, so far none have passed the review, Lo said.
The review process is strictly based on scientific evidence and health standards, as it is the agency’s duty to protect public health, she said.
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