Tobacco industry protests revised anti-smoking law

The association held a press conference yesterday to show their opposition to the law’s provisions which eliminate smoking from public places, increase tax levies on sales and expand the scale of containers which will be required to hold warnings and pictures.

Tobacco Industry Association secretary-general Yin Nai-hsin said that no one seemed to be listening to the needs of those who are involved in the production of tobacco.

“In the debate over the [Tobacco Hazards Control] Law in the legislature, the voices of those in the industry are being completely overlooked,” said Yin said.

Yin noted that she and her associates actually support a good portion of the bill.

The tobacco industry agrees with the reasonable intent of the law, support the increase of the health tax, from NT$5 to NT$10, support the prohibition of consumer ads and support the regulations that fit into the conventions of the world framework on tobacco control.

As for the increase of package warning to 30 percent, the regulations requiring eating establishments to have a separate smoking area will not have the effect of making smokers into non-smokers.

Concerning the warning ads on cigarette products, Yin said “the industry supports the convention as provided for by the world tobacco growing control framework which will be adopted in five years.”

Tsai Tung-shun, director of The Federation of Trade Unions of the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Company, said that the ads the law calls for at stores where cigarettes are sold would hurt local shops.

“The law requires for images of terribly nauseating warning posters to be placed in retail areas,” he said. “This will affect the shop’s business including that by customers who are not even smokers.”

Tsai also stated that the law goes too far in establishing smoking areas in all public places.

“The content of the revised law also intends that outside areas must also be separated into areas for smokers, creating a situation in which police can arbitrarily select targets,” he said.

Hospitality industry representative Tsai Chung-han added that some restaurants and nightlife venues which will lose all of their business should the law pass.

“There are restaurants and nightspots that, as a matter of their character, have many smokers,” he said. “If you want to demand that the entrepreneurs eliminate smoking inside their establishments, it’s feared that it will hurt business so much that they will be forced to shut down.”

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