Tag: Taiwan

It’s the pollution
The vast majority of women diagnosed with lung cancer at Taiwan’s Shin Kong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital between June 2007 and December 2017 were non-smokers, according to a story in The Taipei Times.
Of the 31,838 people that had computed tomography (CT) scans over the period, 267 were diagnosed with lung cancer, 83.5 percent of whom did not smoke, said the Department of General Medicine director Hsu Pei-sung.
Apart from smoking, genetics and chronic pulmonary diseases, other factors that might lead to lung cancer included indoor air pollutants, such as second-hand smoke, incense and cooking fumes, he said.
In recent years, there had been incidents of people diagnosed with lung cancer after reporting coughing for a couple of weeks, even though they exercised and ate well, he said, adding that most of them were women.
Airborne particulates – such as PM2.5, particulate matter measuring up to 2.5 micrometers in diameter – have been classified by the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a ‘Group 1’ carcinogen, and they could increase the likelihood of contracting lung cancer and respiratory diseases.
Citing research conducted by Academia Sinica, Hsu said that PM2.5 concentrations are normally 2,000 to 13,000 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m3) of air for second-hand smoke; 1,250 to 1,750mg/m3 for cooking without using a range hood; 75 to 700mg/m3 for burning incense; and 70 to 500mg/m3 at restaurants, suggesting that PM2.5 is not solely an outdoor risk factor.
January 18, 2019
Mountain retreat
The Taipei city government will impose a tobacco-smoking ban on Elephant Mountain starting May 1, according to a story in The Taiwan News.
The forthcoming ban was said to be the municipal government’s first legislation aimed at eliminating smoking from all mountain scenic areas.
Elephant Mountain attracts large numbers of visitors and international tourists daily, especially during New Year celebrations, and this is why it was chosen as the first location to impose the ban.
According to a government spokesman, the ban was created to protect the right of people not to breathe second-hand smoke.
Those who violate the ban will be fined NT$2,000-NT$10,000 (US$60-US$340).
Elephant Mountain is an ideal spot to take photos of the Taipei skyline and draws large crowds every day.
April 26, 2018
Taiwan has e-cig ‘problem’
Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare reported Sunday new data estimating that more than 52,000 teenagers in Taiwan regularly use electronic cigarettes, according to a story in The Taiwan News citing a Central News Agency report.
A poll administered by the ministry found that e-cigarette use went from 2.0 percent among middle school students and 2.1 percent among high school students in 2013, to 3.7 percent and 4.8 percent respectively in 2015.
The ministry estimates also that there are 100,000 adult – over 18-years-old – e-cigarette smokers in Taiwan.
The ministry was quoted as saying that e-cigarettes were highly addictive and that their long-term effects were not fully understood, something, it added, that posed ‘even more of a risk to young adopters’.
The story did not explain what the e-cigarette risk was being compared with. Even so, the Ministry was said to be demanding immediate attention to this problem.
Taiwan legislators continue to discuss how to regulate and manage e-cigarettes, and even ban them; however, legislation remains pending in the Executive Yuan.
April 3, 2018
Taiwan to ban e-cigs
A draft amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, which Taiwan’s Executive Yuan is due to approve and submit to the legislature on Thursday, is set to ban the manufacture, import, sale and advertising of electronic cigarettes, according to a story in the Taipei Times.
Under the amendment, the manufacture and importation of e-cigarettes would be punishable with a fine of between NT$50,000 and NT$250,000, while the sale of e-cigarettes and their use in non-smoking areas would be punishable with a fine of between NT$10,000 and NT$50,000.
E-cigarettes are currently banned through an order issued by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but the ban is not codified in the act, leaving legal wiggle room.
“It is estimated that between 60,000 and 70,000 junior and senior-high school students in Taiwan have used e-cigarettes,” said cabinet deputy spokeswoman Chang Hsiu-chen. “Teenagers who have used them are six times more likely to smoke regular cigarettes, so the government must ban e-cigarettes to protect teenagers’ health.”
Chang said too that because e-cigarettes contained nicotine, they were addictive. The World Health Organization had advised their regulation.
“The possession and use of e-cigarettes is legal, but should be regulated as regular cigarettes, meaning that people under 18 and pregnant women are prohibited from using e-cigarettes, and it is illegal to use them in non-smoking areas,” Chang said.
Meanwhile, the amendment is due also to ban flavored cigarettes and to require cigarette producers to increase the size of graphic health warnings to 85 percent, whereas, under current regulations, the warnings take up 35 percent.
Finally, the amendment requires the government to provide legal and medical assistance to people who sustain injuries or damage to their property after attempting to dissuade people from smoking or refusing to sell cigarettes to underage people.
October 9, 2017
Taiwan to stop growing
About 84 percent of Taiwan’s tobacco farmers have stopped growing the crop, according to a story in The Taipei Times quoting the Council of Agriculture.
The Council said that farmers could apply for subsidies until the end of the year, when the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTLC) is due to stop buying domestic tobacco.
Prior to 2002, when Taiwan became a member of the World Trade Organization, tobacco and alcohol sales were government-controlled, but the system was abolished with the formation of the TTLC.
Since its formation, the TTLC’s tobacco purchases had gradually shifted overseas, which had greatly affected domestic tobacco farming, said Agriculture and Food Agency Secretary-General Weng Chen-hsin.
In 2013, the council started to help tobacco farmers transition to other crops, but with limited success, he said.
Then, in February, the council started paying farmers who stopped growing tobacco NT$600,000 per ha. Those who accepted the payment agreed not to grow or sell tobacco; or to return the money if they did.
Under the scheme, farmers willing to grow other produce can be provided with subsidies on seeds, equipment and fertilizers, the council said.
Of the 1,530 registered tobacco farmers, 1,250 have applied for the one-off payment, while 49 have applied to grow other crops, Weng said.
The council has so far paid for about 524 ha to be taken out of tobacco.
According to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, one percent of the nation’s cigarette tax revenue is used to subsidize tobacco farmers.
October 4, 2017
Bigger is better in Taiwan
Warning labels on cigarette packs sold in Taiwan are too small and not frightening enough to be effective, according to a story in The Taipei Times quoting academics speaking at a forum held in Taipei on Monday.
The difference between the number of people who smoked in Taiwan, three million, and the number who smoked in Hong Kong, 640,000, might be due to the difference in the sizes of the warning labels, they said at the Tobacco Hazard and Prevention Forum for Cross-strait Locations, Hong Kong and Macau.
This seems unlikely given that the population of Taiwan is about 23 million and that of Hong Kong is about seven million.
There is a significant smoking-prevalence difference: about 15 percent in Taiwan and 10 percent in Hong Kong, but attributing this to health warnings seems to be a giant step.
Warning labels in Taiwan took up 35 percent of tobacco packaging and were ‘a light reminder’, the academics said.
On the other hand, warning labels and graphics take up 85 percent of tobacco packaging in Hong Kong. They include pictures of long-time smokers and the effects that smoking has on the body, and warning messages such as, ‘Smoking causes strokes and ‘Smoking kills’.
University of Hong Kong professor Lam Tai-hing was quoted as saying that ‘pictures’ were thought to scare many young people off smoking.
In Taiwan, the Health Promotion Administration said it was aware of the statistics, and that amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act had been sent to the Executive Yuan.
The amendments would increase the size of warning labels on cigarette packaging to 85 percent.
And they would hike fines for the illegal distribution of e-cigarettes in a bid to deter sales and distribution of these devices.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it would convene a panel to discuss the kinds of pictures that would be a deterrent to smoking.
September 6, 2017
Illegal trade targeted
The Taiwan government’s efforts to crack down on tobacco smuggling have borne fruit, resulting in the seizure of more than six million packs of contraband cigarettes during the past six months, according to a story in The Taipei Times quoting the Minister of Finance, Sheu Yu-jer.
Since October 20, the Ministry of Finance, in co-operation with other government agencies, had adopted tougher measures to combat cigarette and tobacco smuggling, Sheu said.
These measures had been put in place ahead of the implementation of legislation raising the health surcharge on cigarettes from NT$10 (US$0.33) per pack to NT$20 per pack as of June 12, a move that Sheu conceded might spur smuggling.
About 6.22 million packs of smuggled cigarettes had been confiscated during the six-month period, he said.
And during the first half of this month, about one million packs had been seized.
The government has cracked down on suspicious practices, such as local fishermen having their boats registered as foreign vessels, a National Treasury Administration official said.
In addition, it had drafted an amendment that would expand the range of smuggling inspections from within 12 nautical miles to 24 nautical miles (22.2km to 44.4km) of the coast of Taiwan, the official said.
The proposal is still to be submitted to the cabinet for approval.
The ministry urged the public to report counterfeit tobacco and alcohol products, adding that informants would be given a cash reward of up to NT$4.8 million.
May 30, 2017
Smoking rooms reprieved
A draft amendment to Taiwan’s Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, scheduled to be sent to the Executive Yuan (cabinet) by the end of this month, is likely to allow the continued use of indoor smoking rooms in hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs, according to a story in The Taipei Times quoting health officials.
A draft revision to the act, released in January by the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), was originally set to ban smoking in all indoor locations, which it stated was in accordance with findings that indoor partitions did not effectively prevent second-hand smoke from spreading.
But the HPA then said it would take 60 days to collect opinions from the public before finalizing the amendment and sending it to the cabinet for review.
HPA Deputy Director-General Yu Li-hui now says the agency plans to allow smoking lounges in some locations.
HPA official Lo Su-ying said the draft would continue to allow smoking lounges in hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs, and would not introduce a health surcharge on duty-free tobacco sold at airports, as was originally planned.
But the amendment, as announced in January, would treat electronic cigarettes as though they were traditional tobacco cigarettes, making it illegal to provide them to minors.
The John Tung Foundation, which focuses on public health issues and tobacco control, said 47 nations and territories forbade smoking in indoor public facilities and accused the HPA of neglecting its responsibility to safeguard people’s health.
Smoking has been illegal on sidewalks near schools in Taipei since December 26, and since January 1 it has been prohibited also at all of the city’s 932 bus stops.
May 18, 2017
Huge tax increase in Taiwan
Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance said yesterday that the price of cigarettes would be increased by NT$20 (US$0.60) per pack on the back of a 169 percent increase in tax, according to a story in The Taiwan News.
The announcement followed the passing by the Legislature of the third and final reading of an amendment to the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act.
The increase is due to take effect on June 20.
The amendment raises the cigarette tax from NT$590 per 1,000 cigarettes (per kilogram) to NT$1,590, which translates into a tax per pack of NT$31.8, up from the current NT$11.8.
The Finance Ministry said the increase was expected to generate NT$23.3 billion in additional annual tax revenue, which would be used to fund a long-term care program for seniors.
Finance Minister Sheu Yu-jer said earlier this year that he believed the policy would also help curb tobacco consumption and promote public health.
May 12, 2017
Massive tax rise planned
Legislators in Taiwan on Monday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes by about 170 percent, according to a story in The China Post, Taipei.
If the law is passed, the tax would increase from the NT$590 per 1,000 cigarettes to NT$1,590 per 1,000; or from NT$11.80 a pack to NT$31.80 a pack.
The new rates could take effect as early as June.
Raising cigarette tax was part of a set of policies announced earlier this year aimed at generating more funds for the government’s long-term care program.
The Finance Ministry said that it expected income from its tobacco tax and surcharge to exceed NT$23.3 billion next year.
The Finance Minister Sheu Yu-jer said Taiwan’s smoking incidence among people with a monthly income of between NT$20,000 and NT$40,000 was more than 20 percent, while the incidence for those earning more than NT$100,000 a month was 34 percent.
“The cigarette hike will impact people with middle and high income the most,” said Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Luo Ming-tsai in opposing the measure.
Luo added that only 10.9 percent of low-income people smoked.
According to data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the overall smoking incidence for 2015 was 17.1 percent.
The aim is to lower that to 15.3 percent this year, and to 14.0 percent in 2025.
The New Power Party (NPP) legislator Huang Kuo-chang argued that the cigarette tax hike would not be a stable source of funding for the long-term care program, calling the policy “unpractical”.
“If smoking rates fall year by year as planned by health officials, the drop will absolutely affect long-term care tax revenue,” said Huang. “While at the same time, both demand and required funding for long-term care is set to increase.”
Responding to Huang’s criticism, Sheu said the declining smoking rates had been taken into account when designing the funding structure.
Since it was “impossible for addicts to stop smoking in an instant”, he added, the smoking population would not drop immediately.
March 14, 2017