Two years in the making, Taiwan’s Health Promotion Agency (HPA) Director-General Wu Chao-chun said on Friday, that decisions to approve heated tobacco products could begin coming out as soon as next month.
Eleven tobacco manufacturers submitted applications to the HPA and six completed the documentation assessment phase of the approval evaluation process. Those companies moved into the product testing phase of the evaluation, which takes six months.
In March 2023, the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act was amended to allow a path to legalization on a case-by-case basis. Manufacturers that gain approval would be authorized to commercialize their products with the appropriate labeling and health warnings. Those that do not are forced to resubmit and begin the process again or move to litigation.
Wu said announcements of the results would be staggered as the documentation came in at different times and often had to be redone.
