Tobacco
2024 White Paper Issues
Suggestion 1: Integrate industry consultations into the process of deliberating new regulations or legislation.
Throughout the amendment process of control policies, the tobacco industry has repeatedly raised concerns that the proposed measures have failed to comprehensively take the tobacco market into consideration, cautioning that this may lead to a significant rise in illicit tobacco trade. We urge the government to address these concerns by gathering input from relevant parties before implementing regulatory changes to safeguard the rights and interests of consumers and legitimate businesses and ease future administrative difficulties.
Following the passage of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act on February 15, 2023, the implementation of certain provisions of the law has been ineffective and lacking in transparency. One example is Article 7, which covers health risk assessment reviews for designated tobacco products. Although the law was promulgated on March 22, 2023, the detailed review standards and processes have still not been clearly defined.
As another example, on March 20, 2023, a draft regulation “prohibiting the use of floral, fruity, chocolate, and mint flavors in tobacco products” was made available for public consultation for only seven days, severely limiting stakeholders’ ability to fully engage and contribute to more effective and comprehensive policy development. Moreover, the government has only released minimal information regarding this issue. To date, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has merely indicated that the proposal is still under internal review.
The tobacco industry has actively participated in the legislative amendment process by submitting public comments. Yet, as mentioned above, following promulgation of the regulations governing the health risk assessment review, detailed standards and processes for designated tobacco products review remain undisclosed, with information occasionally surfacing only through media reports. Such lack of transparency goes against the principle of good regulatory practices that stakeholders expect the government to follow.
In addition, the MOHW’s broad discretion over the ban on tobacco product additives, with its ill-defined terms and scope, has significantly burdened businesses. The resulting unpredictability of regulatory actions has impaired business operations and planning, causing significant financial losses.
To safeguard the public’s right to information, the MOHW should fully disclose its procedures and decision-making processes. By committing to transparency and openness, the MOHW can address concerns of information asymmetry between the government and the public, thus avoiding allegations of conducting “black box operations.”
Revisions to tobacco control policies inevitably have a serious impact on industry, making it necessary for businesses to be given sufficient time to adjust related product lines and supply chains. The tobacco industry therefore recommends that as part of the process of drafting any new legislation, the MOHW meet with industry representatives to achieve broad consensus on such critical aspects as prohibited items, implementation dates, and the handling of existing stock. Discussions should include consideration of a grace period before implementation takes effect, as is the practice in the European Union and other regions, to mitigate potential adverse effects on industry.
Suggestion 2: Implement effective measures to combat the illicit cigarette trade.
On February 24, 2024, the National Treasury Administration under the Ministry of Finance (MOF) released the 2023 results of its anti-illicit trade of tobacco products operations. The combined efforts of central and local authorities resulted in the seizure of around 17.5 million packs of illegal tobacco products, an increase of nearly 12% compared with 2022. Notably, over 10.8 million packs, constituting about 62% of the total seized, were from domestic underground factories. This figure represents a substantial rise of nearly 245% from the 3.2 million packs in 2022, indicating that the pattern of illegal tobacco activities in Taiwan has shifted from small-scale importation and smuggling to large-scale domestic production by underground facilities using smuggled, substandard tobacco ingredients.
Tobacco taxes are a major source of revenue for the national treasury. Illicit tobacco products, unless effectively eliminated, will undoubtedly threaten the stability of tax revenue and the social welfare policies that depend on these funds. Illicit tobacco activities must be tackled through a balanced approach, mindful of avoiding the enforcement of excessively strict or unreasonable measures, such as banning additives in tobacco products.
In addition to the profitability for illicit traders, market demand significantly fuels the illicit tobacco trade. Domestic and international experiences indicate a close connection between the volume of illicit tobacco seizures and the strictness of tobacco control policies.
When tobacco control measures are severely tightened, consumers who find that their preferences are not accommodated for in the legal market may be driven to the illegal market. It is therefore vital to consider consumer behavior and market dynamics when formulating tobacco control policies to prevent an unintended boost in the illicit market.
Safeguarding the rights and interests of legitimate businesses should be a top priority for the government. The tobacco industry welcomes the MOF’s enhanced initiatives to combat illicit tobacco products. However, the government must also formulate rational and predictable tobacco control policies. An effective strategy to prevent the resurgence of illicit tobacco activities requires a dual approach combining stringent enforcement with a sensible regulatory framework.
建議一:建請行政機關遵守60天政策預告期之行政院函令
在修正菸控政策的過程中,菸品產業曾多次提出擔憂,表示本次菸害防制法修法內容未全面考量合法菸品市場可能產生的負面變化,將導致非法菸品貿易大幅增加。產業敦促政府在政策施行之前,應徵求各方意見,以保障消費者和合法業者的權益,同時避免未來在推行政策時窒礙難行。
在2023年2月15日通過《菸害防制法》修正案後,其中某些法令的實施效果不佳且缺乏透明度。例如《菸害防制法》第7條,提及指定菸品之健康風險評估審查。儘管該審查辦法於2023年3月22日公佈,但詳細的評估標準和流程仍未明確定義。
另一個例子則是在2023年3月20日,衛福部預告草案「禁止在菸品中使用花香、果香、巧克力和薄荷口味」僅公開徵詢意見7天,嚴重限縮了利害關係人充分參與討論,並為制定有效和全面的政策貢獻。此外,政府對此草案僅公開極少量的訊息,迄今為止,衛福部僅表示該案仍在內部研議中。
菸品產業雖透過提出公開意見來積極參與立法修訂過程,然而如前述,在《指定菸品健康風險評估審查辦法》公告後,詳細的標準和流程仍然未被公開,有時候甚至只能透過媒體報導來獲得相關資訊。透明度不足之現況,有違相關利害關係人對於政府應遵循良好法治作業的期待。
此外,衛生福利部對於菸品添加物的禁令具有廣泛裁量權,且草案中規範的名詞定義和限制範圍模糊不清,對合法業者造成重大負擔,因為其不可預測的法規變動,嚴重影響產業的業務運作和規劃,並造成重大財務損失。
為保障社會之公眾知情權,主管機關應該充分公開其程序和決策過程。以透明、公開原則,消除政府與民眾之間的資訊不對稱,避免「黑箱作業」之疑慮。
菸控政策的修正無疑將對產業產生嚴重影響,因此有必要給予產業充分時間來進行相關產品及供應鏈調整。因此,產業建議政府在制定相關之新法的過程中,主管機關應與產業代表直接就禁止內容、實施日期和處理現有庫存等關鍵問題達成廣泛共識,並應考慮如歐盟和其他地區一樣設有法規執行的緩衝期,以減輕該修法對產業可能造成的不利衝擊。
建議二:針對非法菸品貿易制定有效打擊手段
2024年2月24日,財政部國庫署公布2023年查緝私劣菸品成果。中央及地方共計查獲違法菸品數量達到約1,750萬包,較2022年增加近12%。其中值得關注的是,有超過1,080萬包是來自國內非法地下菸廠,約佔總查獲數的62%。這數字較2022年的320萬包大幅增加了近245%,顯示台灣的非法菸品市場行為模式已從小量進口及走私的型態,轉變為利用進口走私劣質菸品原料,再於地下菸廠進行大規模生產的方式。
菸稅為我國財政的主要收入來源,在私菸尚未充分查緝且得到有效杜絕前,無疑將威脅我國整體稅收及社會福利政策財源穩定性。因此,要防堵私菸流通,政策執行上需要權衡以避免執行過於嚴苛或不合理的政策,如禁止使用菸品添加物等政策。根據國內外的經驗,非法菸品查緝數量與菸控政策的嚴格程度之間存在著緊密關聯,而除了私梟有利可圖外,既有的市場需求也將導致違法私劣菸品市場加速發展,因為在大幅度緊縮菸控政策後,若合法市場無法滿足原有消費者的需求,消費者將被迫轉向非法市場。因此,在制定菸控政策時,考慮消費者行為和市場動態至關重要,以防止非法市場成長。
政府應將保障合法業者的權益視為優先要務之一,產業樂見財政部持續加強制定私劣菸品查緝計畫與專案,但要有效杜絕私菸犯罪一再發生,政府需要採取雙重策略,即制定合理漸進、可預測的菸控政策並落實嚴格執法。