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CHAPTER VII: Penal Provisions
Article 45
Any person who produces illegal tobacco or alcohol products shall be punished by an administrative fine of not less than NT$50,000 and not more than NT$1,000,000. If the present value of the products at the time of discovery exceeds NT$1,000,000, however, the producer will be punished with an administrative fine of not less than one times and not greater than five times the present value at the time of discovery, up to a maximum of NT$10,000,000.
Any person who imports illegal tobacco or alcohol products shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not more than three years, and, in addition thereto, a fine of not less than NT$200,000 and not more than NT$10,000,000 may be imposed.
Where the quantity of illegal tobacco or alcohol products produced or imported does not exceed a specific quantity and the products are for personal use, or where such tobacco or alcohol products are carried by inward passengers, the punishments imposed in the preceding two paragraphs of this article shall not apply.
When an inward passenger carries tobacco or alcohol products in excess of duty-free quantities and fails to declare the products to Customs, the excess quantities shall be forfeited to Customs, and Customs shall impose on the passenger a respective administrative fine of not less than NT$500 and not more than NT$5,000 for each ream of cigarettes, pound of cut tobacco, twenty-five cigars, or liter of alcohol, and in such case the penalties imposed under the Customs Anti-Smuggling Act shall not apply.
The specific amount referred to in Paragraph 3 will be announced by the central competent authority.
Article 46
The sale, transport, or transfer, or the display or storage with the intent to sell, transport, or transfer illegal tobacco or alcohol will be punished with an administrative fine of not less than NT$30,000 and not more than NT$500,000. If the present value of the products at the time of discovery exceeds NT$500,000, however, the producer will be punished with an administrative fine of not less than one times and not greater than five times the present value at the time of discovery, up to a maximum of NT$6,000,000. If the offender cooperates in revealing the source of the illegal tobacco or alcohol, resulting in further discovery of illegal tobacco or alcohol, the administrative fine may be reduced to one-fourth of the original amount.
The provisions of the Customs Anti-Smuggling Act with regard to administrative fines do not apply under the circumstances of the preceding paragraph.
Article 47
The production or importation of disqualified tobacco or the disqualified alcohol described in Article 7, Paragraph 3 will be punished with an administrative fine of not less than NT$300,000 and not more than NT$3,000,000. If the present value of the products at the time of discovery exceeds NT$3,000,000, however, punishment will be an administrative fine of not less than one times and not greater than five times the present value at the time of discovery, up to a maximum of NT$60,000,000.
If the disqualified tobacco or alcohol of the preceding paragraph contains substances capable of materially injuring human health, punishment will be a term of imprisonment of not more than five years, in addition to which a fine of not less than NT$300,000 and not more than NT$60,000,000 may be imposed.
Production of the disqualified alcohol described in Article 7, Paragraph 2 will be punished with a term of imprisonment of not more than five years, in addition to which a fine of not less than NT$300,000 and not more than NT$60,000,000 may be imposed.
If the disqualified alcohol of the preceding paragraph contains substances capable of materially injuring human health, punishment will be a term of imprisonment of not more than seven years, in addition to which a fine of not less than NT$500,000 and not more than NT$100,000,000 may be imposed.
Article 48
The sale, transport, or transfer, or the display or storage with the intent to sell, transport, or transfer disqualified tobacco or alcohol will be punished with an administrative fine of not less than NT$200,000 and not more than NT$2,000,000. If the present value of the products at the time of discovery exceeds NT$2,000,000, however, punishment will be an administrative fine of not less than one times and not greater than five times the present value at the time of discovery, up to a maximum of NT$20,000,000.
If the disqualified tobacco or alcohol of the preceding paragraph involved in the sale, transport, or transfer, or the display or storage with the intent to sell, transport, or transfer contains substances capable of materially injuring human health, punishment will be a term of imprisonment of not more than three years, in addition to which a fine of not less than NT$200,000 and not more than NT$20,000,000 may be imposed.
If the person committing the offences involved in the sale, transport, or transfer, or the display or storage with the intent to sell, transport, or transfer described in the preceding two paragraphs cooperates in revealing the source of the disqualified tobacco or alcohol, resulting in further discovery of such disqualified tobacco or alcohol, the sentence of imprisonment may be reduced, or the administrative fine may be reduced to one-fourth of the original amount.
Article 49
Where the representative of a juristic person or the agent, employee or other
person in the service of a juristic person or natural person commits any crime set forth in Article 45, Paragraph 2; Article 47, Paragraphs 2 to 4; or Article 48, Paragraph 2 during the discharge of their responsibility; then, in addition to punishment of the person committing this Act in accordance with each of the respective provisions, the fines for each respective provision shall be imposed on the given juristic person or natural person.
Article 50
A tobacco or alcohol producer or importer that violates the labeling regulations of Article 31, Paragraph 1 or 2; Article 32, Paragraphs 1 to 3 or Paragraph 5; or Article 33, except in the case of a first-time violation that does not involve false labeling or misleading statements, in which case correction may be made within a specified period of time, will be punished with an administrative fine of not less than NT$30,000 and not more than NT$500,000. The business will also be notified to make correction within a specified period of time, and prior to making the correction, may not continue sales of the offending item. If correction has not been made by the deadline, further punishments will be imposed for each violation, and the offending tobacco or alcohol products will be forfeited.
A tobacco or alcohol producer that without authorization or consent, labels the tobacco or alcohol it produces as the tobacco or alcohol of another party will be punished with an administrative fine of not less than NT$60,000 and not more than NT$1,000,000, and the offending products will be forfeited.
The sale or transfer, or the display or storage with intent to sell or transfer, of tobacco or alcohol products not in compliance with the labeling regulations of this Act will result in forfeiture of the offending products.
Article 51
A violation of Article 37 in the advertising or promotion of alcohol products will be punished by an administrative fine of not less than NT$30,000 and not more than NT$500,000, and the offender will be notified to make correction within a specified period of time. Failure to make correction by the deadline will result in further punishment for each violation.
If a broadcasting media enterprise including transmission such as television, radio, or the Internet, or a publishing enterprise violates Article 37 in the broadcast or publishing of an alcohol product advertisement, and if, following notification from the competent authority to cease, the enterprise continues to broadcast or publish the advertisement, punishment will be an administrative fine of not less than NT$30,000 and not more than NT$500,000, with further punishment for each violation.
If the violation of Paragraph 1 is for inconspicuous labeling of the required warning and is a first-time violation, the offender will be notified to make correction within a prescribed period of time.
Article 52
Under any of the following circumstances, an administrative fine of not less than NT$50,000 and not more than NT$250,000 will be imposed:
1. Violation of the sanitation standards for alcohol product containers under Article 26, Paragraph 2.
2. Labeling, advertising, or promotion in violation of Article 34.
3. Refusing, evading, or impeding the execution of matters provided under Article 38, Paragraph 1 by the competent authority or of matters provided under Article 39, Paragraph 1 by the competent health authority.
4. Failure to comply with an order to suspend operations issued by the competent authority under Article 40, Paragraph 1.
Article 53
Under any of the following circumstances, an administrative fine of not less than NT$50,000 and not more than NT$250,000 may be imposed; and, in the case that the violation is of a material nature and the offender fails to improve within a specified period of time following notification to do so, the establishment permit of the offender will be revoked:
1. Violation of Article 4, Paragraph 4 or of the regulations adopted pursuant to Article 4, Paragraph 6 regarding registration for sale, documents evidencing the purpose of purchase, denaturing, denaturing additives, reporting of inventory volumes of alcohol imported for sale, and storage site locations.
2. Violation of Article 11, Paragraph 1 regarding annual output in excess of a specified amount, production on behalf of others, or repackage for the sale of alcohol products.
3. Violation of the sanitation standards of Article 27, Paragraph 1.
Article 54
Under any of the following circumstances, an administrative fine of not less than NT$50,000 and not more than NT$250,000 will be imposed, and notification to recall and destroy the products within a specified period of time will be issued by the competent authority. Failure to comply by the deadline will result in further punishment for each violation:
1. Violation by a tobacco or alcohol producer or importer of Article 30, Paragraph 3 by the sale of tobacco or alcohol exceeding its expiration date or storage life.
2. Violation of Article 39, Paragraph 4 by an unauthorized change in the storage site of alcohol batches which have been released, or transferring them to a third party, prior to having met inspection regulations.
3. Failure to comply with an order of the competent authority under Article 41, Paragraph 1 to make a public announcement and to recall and destroy offending products, or violation of Article 41, Paragraph 2 by failing to recall and destroy tobacco or alcohol products that are seriously injurious to human health within the deadline set by the competent authority.
Article 55
Under any of the following circumstances, an administrative fine of not less than NT$10,000 and not more than NT$50,000 will be imposed:
1. Violation by a tobacco or alcohol producer of Article 14, Paragraph 1.
2. Violation by a tobacco or alcohol importer of Article 19, Paragraph 1.
3. Sale or transfer of alcohol products in violation of Article 30, Paragraph 1.
4. Violation by a tobacco or alcohol seller of Article 30, Paragraph 3.
5. Violation by an alcohol seller of Article 35.
In the event of the violation of Subparagraphs 1 or 2 of the preceding paragraph, in addition to the imposition of an administrative fine, the business will be notified to make correction within a specified period of time, and if it fails to comply by the deadline, its establishment permit will be revoked.
Further punishment will be imposed for each violation of Subparagraphs 3 or 5 of Paragraph 1.
Violation of Subparagraph 4 of Paragraph 1 will result in notification by the competent authority to recall or destroy the offending products within a specified period of time; failure to comply by the deadline will result in further punishment for each violation.
Article 56
Violation by a tobacco or alcohol producer or importer of Article 14, Paragraph 2 or Article 19, Paragraph 2 will be punished by the imposition of an administrative fine of not less than NT$5,000 and not more than NT$25,000.
Article 57
Illegal tobacco or alcohol discovered pursuant to this Act, and the raw materials, semi-finished products, equipment, and alcohol containers for their production, will be confiscated or forfeited.
Disqualified tobacco or alcohol discovered pursuant to this Act will be confiscated or forfeited.
When alcohol is produced with a type of alcohol product as raw material other than alcohol that complies with the national standards for edible ethyl alcohol, or when the raw materials that are used for tobacco or alcohol production contain substances that are materially injurious to human health, the aforesaid raw materials or semi-finished products will be confiscated or forfeited.
Confiscation or forfeiture of the tobacco or alcohol and related raw materials, semi-finished products, and equipment or containers pursuant to the preceding three paragraphs will be carried out whether it belongs to the offender or not.
Tobacco or alcohol that is sold when its expiration date or storage life has expired will be subject to forfeiture without regard to ownership.