Activists of the Clean Air Alliance rallied outside the Legislative Yuan yesterday to protest the prohibition on heated tobacco products (HTPs) and delayed regulatory processes by Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW).
Clean Air Alliance head Peng Hua-gan (彭華幹) said that smokers have rights too, and demanded that the government not impose severe restrictions, but instead regulate HTPs, including e-cigarettes and vapes.
More than 100 people participated in the rally, holding signs, chanting slogans and performing a street theater.
Photo: Wang Kuang-jen, Taipei Times
Lawmakers and the MOHW have deceived smokers, Peng said, as amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) passed their third reading in March 2023, permitting the sale and purchase of HTPs.
“But to this day, we cannot buy any of these in Taiwan,” Peng added.
It is because lawmakers inserted an article requiring HTPs to first receive approval through a “health risk evaluation” process, Peng said.
“However, MOHW officials have dragged their feet and delayed it for more than two years, so people still cannot buy any legal HTPs or vapes in Taiwan,” he said.
“If the sale and purchase [of HPTs] were legal, the government could collect tax on it.” Peng said. “But now it is a three-way losing proposition — smokers’ right to choose has been violated, the government is losing out on the huge tax revenue and it has also led to increased smuggling.”
The name of the alliance refers to HTPs as cleaner alternatives to traditional tobacco products as they do not produce second-hand smoke, thereby reducing air pollution, he said.
Alliance members also put on a street theater performance, with two men dressed up as the “God of Wealth” (財神爺) — each wielding a large gold ingot to symbolize government officials colluding to benefit big businesses selling paper cigarettes — and two men representing smugglers, pretending to hide HTPs inside their jackets.
Lawmakers and the MOHW have driven up black market demand, Peng said, adding that customs have seen people dressed up as monks stuffing HTPs inside the robes, as well as other ways of smuggling.
“We are consumers, and we have the freedom to choose,” he said. “Vaping has no second-hand smoke, it is for cleaner air, and better for health.”
“Why ban it in Taiwan? People can buy paper cigarettes, and smoking is legal, as should be the case for e-cigarettes, but continued delays to the evaluation process mean they are effectively imposing a ban right now,” Peng said.
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