Taipei: More than a dozen NGOs in Taiwan have accused a tobacco company of deliberately violating the law by failing to label nicotine content on heated tobacco products. The organizations are urging authorities to enhance enforcement after the items were ordered removed from shelves last week.
According to Focus Taiwan, during a press conference in Taipei, Lin Ching-li, director of the Tobacco Control Division at John Tung Foundation, questioned why the company preferred facing a fine of NT$5 million (US$162,600) over complying with the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act by labeling nicotine content. Although the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) has not officially banned the media from disclosing the company’s name, CNA is withholding it to avoid inadvertently promoting the brand and violating advertising restrictions under the act.
Lin, along with representatives from 12 other NGOs, held the press event to call for stricter enforcement after the HPA ordered eight types of heated tobacco products from the same company to be pulled from shelves last Friday, their first day on sale. These were Taiwan’s first legally approved heated tobacco products, but were quickly removed after inspectors found the packaging did not comply with legal nicotine content labeling requirements.
Health Minister Shih Chung-liang stated last Saturday that the company had submitted samples for pre-market review, which were labeled with nicotine content. Authorities are currently investigating the discrepancy between the submitted samples and the shelf products, and aim to impose fines once responsibility is determined.
During the event, Guo Fei-ran, an attending physician at National Taiwan University Hospital, referenced a 2024 paper in the journal Toxics, which found that heated tobacco products in nine countries contained an average of 4.7 milligrams of nicotine per stick, exceeding Taiwan’s legal limit of 1 milligram. Guo noted that the involved company’s documentation indicates its products contain 18-20 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco, equating to approximately 4.3 to 6 milligrams per stick.
Lin suggested that by labeling nicotine content, the company might be unable to sell its products in Taiwan due to exceeding the legal limit. She highlighted the power and financial influence of multinational tobacco companies, which generate about NT$180 billion annually in Taiwan, making the NT$5 million fine relatively insignificant.
Following their removal from shelves, some of the products were sent for testing to assess whether they meet the legal nicotine content standard. Health Minister Shih noted that while heated tobacco does not produce tar like conventional cigarettes, the nicotine limit is set at a maximum of 1 milligram per stick. If below this limit, the health risk mirrors that of regular cigarettes, with test results anticipated soon.
