The Cabinet yesterday reassured the public that there is an ample supply of toilet paper and there is no need to stockpile paper out of panic.
Amid reports yesterday that toilet paper was flying off shelves as consumers flocked to supermarkets due to reports that prices would rise dramatically next month, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said there is sufficient supply and people need not panic.
The Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee confirmed with supermarket chains that shelves have been replenished and there is sufficient stock, Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
The expected rise in toilet paper prices follows an increase in international pulp prices, but a rise in the retail prices of toilet paper would not affect the prices of other commodities, because toilet paper is an end product, Hsu said.
Some retail chains are still putting toilet rolls on sale at reduced prices and consumers’ bulk buying of toilet paper is caused by panic over the price rise, Hsu said, adding that the committee and the Fair Trade Commission would closely monitor short-term fluctuations in toilet paper prices to prevent price collusion.
Meanwhile, as the legislature starts its new session today, Premier William Lai (賴清德) is to address the Legislative Yuan to report on product prices, the proposed reactivation of a nuclear reactor and the government response following the deadly earthquake on Feb. 6.
Legislative caucuses only yesterday agreed on the starting date of the session during a cross-caucus meeting at which they requested that Lai report on those issues.
“The rise in toilet paper prices is not a simple matter,” People First Party caucus whip Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said. “During the oil crisis, the government did not intervene in the rise of retail prices until it was too late. It is a serious a matter.”
Lai should make a detailed report on government earthquake response, power supply and the rise in retail prices, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus convener Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) asked Lai to deliver written reports on the three issues raised by the KMT, in addition to a planned report on the Executive Yuan’s policy agenda.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash