As much as 88 percent of condoms sold in adult erotic stores have not passed inspections by the health authorities, according to the results of a survey released yesterday by the Consumers' Foundation ahead of Valentine's Day.
The foundation examined 25 condom brands purchased from 11 stores in Taipei City and Taipei County on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4.
While all brands of condoms sold on the market are required to be registered with the Department of Health as a medical product and to display a license code on their packaging, the survey found that 18 of the surveyed products did not carry a license code and four others carried codes that did not belong to their brands.
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Only two types of condoms were labeled with all the information required by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law (
The labeling of six condom packages was inconsistent in terms of the manufacturing and expiration dates given on their inner and outer packaging, while four others were past their expiration dates, the foundation found.
Among the 18 condoms with fragrances that were sampled, 12, or 67 percent, either did not indicate their ingredients at all or did not clearly label their ingredients, the survey said.
The chairman of the Consumers' Foundation, Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏), urged the Department of Health to step up its inspection of condoms and to fine those manufacturers who fail to comply with the regulations.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
RSS