An anti-smoking foundation yesterday said the government should raise its health surcharge on cigarettes to discourage smoking.
A new NT$20 tobacco health and welfare surcharge per pack will become effective tomorrow, driving up cigarette prices to an average of between NT$50 and NT$70 per pack. John Tung Foundation president Yau Sea-wain (姚思遠), however, said the new cigarette prices in Taiwan are still not low enough to discourage people from smoking.
LOW PRICES
Noting that a pack of cigarettes usually costs around NT$320 in New York and NT$130 in Hong Kong, Yuan said Taiwan still has some of the lowest cigarette prices in the world.
Yuan said that according to a recent survey conducted by the foundation, the higher the price of cigarettes, the more willing local smokers would be to quit.
The survey of 503 valid samples collected showed that 52 percent of those interviewed said that if cigarette prices continue to rise it will discourage them from smoking, while nearly 40 percent said they would be likely to quit if the cost of a pack of cigarettes exceeded NT$100, Yuan said.
HEALTH SURCHARGE
Therefore, the government should amend the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) within the next two years to add a health surcharge of between NT$30 and NT$50 per pack, he said.
The foundation also said the tobacco law should be amended to require graphic warning labels that cover the entire front of cigarette packages instead of the present law that stipulates that only a portion of the pack should bear a warning
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS