Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation Introduction
The Taiwan monopoly business originated during the Japanese colonial period. In the 14th year before the Republic of China (1898), the Governor-General's Office of Taiwan not only maintained the original opium monopoly but also expanded its scope by implementing monopolies on salt and camphor. In January of the 11th year before the Republic of China (1901), it merged the existing Taiwan Pharmaceutical Company, Taiwan Salt Bureau, and Taiwan Camphor Bureau to establish the "Taiwan Governor-General's Monopoly Bureau." Furthermore, the Bureau included cigarettes and alcoholic beverages in the monopoly scope in the 7th year before the Republic of China (1905) and the 11th year (1922) respectively. In 1942, matches and weights and measures were further incorporated into the monopoly, and in 1943, petroleum was also regulated as a monopolized item. Therefore, before Taiwan's retrocession, the monopolized products included cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, opium, salt, camphor, matches, petroleum, and weights and measures. The Tobacco and Alcohol Public Sales Bureau was the institution responsible for the production, transportation, and sales of tobacco and alcohol, meeting public demand and enforcing tobacco and alcohol monopoly laws. Its subordinate institutions, distribution units, and permitted retailers were spread throughout Taiwan, resulting in a well-established marketing network. The profits from the tobacco and alcohol public sales were paid into the national treasury, serving both economic and fiscal dual purposes. Over the years, it operated with noteworthy performance, with public sales revenues consistently playing a key role in national tax revenue. According to the "Interim Regulations on the Functional Business and Organizational Adjustments of the Taiwan Provincial Government," the Taiwan Provincial Tobacco and Alcohol Public Sales Bureau was restructured on July 1, 1999, under the central authority of the Ministry of Finance, continuing its tobacco and alcohol administrative management and production and sales operations. In recent years, in response to globalization and liberalization, the government has considered abolishing the tobacco and alcohol monopoly and opening up production. It successively announced the "Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act" and the "Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act," which took effect on January 1, 2002, abolishing the monopoly system and reverting tobacco and alcohol to taxation. The "Taiwan Tobacco and Alcohol Corporation Act" was passed by the Legislative Yuan on April 25, 2002, and announced by the president on May 15, 2002, resulting in the Tobacco and Alcohol Public Sales Bureau being restructured into "Taiwan Tobacco and Alcohol Corporation" on July 1, 2002. Source: Official website of Taiwan Tobacco and Alcohol Corporation.
