Taiwan’s Health Promotion Administration (HPA) has proposed an amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (THP) aimed at tightening controls on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
The new proposal would empower authorities to directly confiscate and destroy these products, while also strengthening online oversight, said Lo Su-ying, head of the Tobacco Control Division.
The THP was amended in 2023 to ban the manufacture, import, sale, display, advertisement, and use of e-cigarettes and unapproved heated tobacco products. Since that update, authorities have issued over 600,000 fines amounting to $11.2 million.
However, despite the hefty fines, confiscated contraband items are currently returned to their owners rather than being permanently removed. “This proposed amendment would fill in this loophole, facilitating the accelerated confiscation and destruction of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products,” Lo said.
In addition to these measures, the proposal mandates that internet service providers remove illegal tobacco advertisements and restrict access to related content online.
These enhanced regulations are intended to clamp down on the proliferation of unauthorized tobacco products and curb their digital promotion, reinforcing Taiwan’s commitment to reducing tobacco-related health hazards.
