Lawmakers yesterday approved the third reading of proposed amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防治法), which would require heated tobacco products (HTPs) to comply with the law, ban e-cigarettes and raise the legal age for buying cigarettes to 20.
People who use HTPs or e-cigarettes that are not approved by authorities would face a fine of NT$2,000 to NT$10,000 (US$65.66 to US$328.32), the amendments say.
Entities that sell or manufacture such products would be required to present samples of their products and necessary components, such as heaters for HTPs, when submitting health risk assessment reports, according to the amendments.
Photo: CNA
Tobacco products and related devices cannot be advertised or promoted in any way, nor can distributors claim they have passed health risk assessments, they say.
The amendments place e-cigarettes in the “cigarette-like product” category, effectively banning their use as well as the sale, provision or manufacturing of their necessary components.
Those who manufacture, import, provide or advertise tobacco products, or non-approved HTPs, would face fines of NT$10 million to NT$50 million, the amendments say.
Offenders who are not business owners would be fined NT$50,000 to NT$5 million, they say.
People who incur fines would be granted a grace period, after which they could be fined for repeat offenses, according to the amendments.
The amendments also ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and forbid tobacco companies or the manufacturers of necessary components from donating directly or indirectly to events, natural or legal persons or groups to promote or advertise their products.
Tobacco products must contain warning labels that cover at least half of the packaging, they say.
The amendments also ban smoking around all schools and childcare facilities.
The clauses on e-cigarettes and HTPs are to take effect one month after the amendments’ contents are announced to the public.
The clauses on vapes with additional flavors as well as regulations on packaging are to take effect one year after the amendments are announced.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat