Taiwan is soon to issue its first decision on whether to approve the sale of a heated tobacco product, two years after amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) were promulgated in March 2023.
The amended tobacco act allows a path to legalization for heated tobacco products on a case-by-case basis, Health Promotion Agency (HPA) Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said yesterday.
Eleven tobacco manufacturers have submitted claims to the HPA, six of which have completed the documentation assessment phase of the approval evaluation process, Wu told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
Product testing, which composes the second phase of the evaluation, takes six months and the result of one manufacturer’s application is expected to be announced as soon as next month, he said.
The manufacturer would be authorized to commercialize their product with the appropriate labeling and health warning should it pass the assessment, he added.
If not, the manufacturer can submit product documentation again to restart the process or litigate the outcome by seeking an administrative remedy, Wu said.
Announcements of the application results would be staggered, as they did not complete the documentation phase at the same pace, he said, adding that missing or unsatisfactory documents must be rectified for the process to continue.
Separately, the Alliance of Banning Cigarettes Taiwan, a coalition of advocacy and medical groups against tobacco use, held a news conference yesterday denouncing the amended act.
Lin Ching-li (林清麗), an official at the John Tung Foundation, said the approach of banning flavored cigarettes by listing specifically prohibited additives is flawed.
Tobacco companies easily skirt the regulations by creating new substances to stay ahead of regulators, she said, adding that 90 percent of first-time smokers use a flavored product.
The WHO recommendation is to prohibit all artificial or natural flavoring agents, she said.
Bars continue to allow patrons to smoke indoors without establishing a separate smoking area as the law requires, Mother’s Shield Alliance secretary-general Tang Hsien-mei (唐仙美) said.
Members of the coalition also said that the “health risk assessment,” the HPA’s misguided name of the approval process, enables manufacturers to untruthfully advertise heated products as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.
Tobacco product sales approval evaluation or assessment should be the correct terminology for the testing protocol, they said.
HPA Tobacco Control Division head Lo Su-ying (羅素英) said the government had comprehensively gathered the opinions of experts and medical professionals when drawing up the act.
The agency’s name for the process reflects its intended purpose of scientifically gauging a product’s public health impact, she said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS