The government is to implement a range of new regulations this year, with changes including a higher minimum wage, an expansion of free cancer screenings and tighter environmental rules for hotels.
The minimum monthly wage from today is to be NT$28,590, up from NT$27,470, or a 4.08 percent rise.
The minimum hourly wage is to be raised to NT$190 from NT$183 — an increase of about 3.8 percent.
Photo: CNA
An online passport renewal application service that had been running on a trial basis will be fully implemented, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The service is available to Taiwanese passport holders aged 18 or older who have their household registrations in Taiwan; whose passports have expired; and who do not need to make any changes to the personal information in their passport, the ministry said.
After completing the online application, new passports would be ready 10 days later at a Bureau of Consular Affairs office, it said.
Applicants must show their national ID card and online application receipt to collect the passports, it added.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) has announced expanded eligibility for the e-Gate program — an automated alternative to manual immigration clearance at Taiwan’s airports.
From today, enrollment in the program will be open to people aged 10 or older and who are at least 1.2m tall, down from age 12 and 1.4m, the NIA said.
Meanwhile, under new Ministry of Environment regulations, hotels, guesthouses, and bed and breakfast establishments are no longer allowed to provide liquid toiletries and body care products such as shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion in single-use containers with a capacity of under 180ml for free.
The rules also cover personal hygiene items such as combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, shaving cream and shower caps.
People will be allowed to request the products at hotels, but they will have to pay for them, the environment ministry said.
Under other laws taking effect today, motorcycle owners who replace or modify their exhausts must use parts authorized by the environment ministry, and must have them inspected and registered at their local motor vehicles office.
The rules are intended to curb noise pollution from modified motorcycles.
Those who contravene the rules would face a fine of NT$900 to NT$1,800, it said.
Also from today, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) would expand the eligibility criteria for a number of free cancer screenings.
For colorectal cancer screenings, the eligibility for subsidized fecal occult blood tests once every two years has been expanded to those aged 45 to 49 (from 50 to 74 ) and to 40 to 74 for those with a family history of the disease, the HPA said.
As for cervical cancer screenings, the age limit for subsidized Pap smear tests has been lowered to 25 from 30, it said.
Testing for human papillomavirus — which is linked to cervical cancer and cancers of external genital organs — would be introduced as for women when they reach the ages of 35, 45 and 65, it said.
For breast cancer screenings, subsidized mammograms once every two years would be available for woman aged 40 to 74, expanded from 45 to 70, it said.
Low-dose computer tomography (CT) scans for lung cancer, originally available to men aged 50 to 74 and woman aged 45 to 74 with a family history of the disease, will be lowered to 45 to 74 for men and 40 to 74 for women.
Low-dose CT screenings would also be available to people within the expanded age group who smoke more than 20 packs of cigarettes per year.
The government is to offer free flu vaccines for all unvaccinated residents aged six months or older starting today until vaccine supplies are exhausted.
The government will also make available 200,000 doses of Novavax’s JN.1 COVID-19 vaccine from today. The vaccine is limited to recipients aged 12 or older who have not already been administered the Moderna JN.1 vaccine.
The Ministry of Culture said that residents aged 16 to 22 will be eligible to claim NT$1,200 in cash handouts, known as Culture Points, to spend on cultural activities or at related venues.
For the first time, the initiative has been expanded to offer NT$600 in Culture Points to children aged 13 to 15, it said.
Taiwanese and foreign nationals with an alien resident certificate who were born between Jan. 1, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2012, will be able to claim the handouts digitally through a Ministry of Culture app from today, it said.
The points, each equivalent to NT$1, can be used at designated independent bookstores, record stores, live music events and venues, cultural parks and screenings of Taiwanese films this year, it said.
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