Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation Introduction
The monopoly business in Taiwan originated during the Japanese rule. In the 14th year before the Republic of China (1898), the Governor-General of Taiwan maintained the original opium monopoly and expanded the items under monopoly, implementing monopolies on salt and camphor successively. In January of the 11th year before the Republic of China (1901), it merged the existing Taiwan Pharmaceutical Office, Taiwan Salt Administration, and Taiwan Camphor Bureau to establish the "Taiwan Governor-General's Monopoly Bureau." The Governor-General of Taiwan subsequently included cigarettes and alcoholic beverages in the monopoly scope in the 7th year before the Republic of China (1905) and the 11th year (1922). In the 31st year (1942), matches and weights and measures were also incorporated into the monopoly, and in the 32nd year (1943), petroleum was declared a monopoly item. Therefore, before the liberation of Taiwan, the monopoly items included eight items: cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, opium, salt, camphor, matches, petroleum, and weights and measures. The Tobacco and Alcohol Public Sale Bureau was an organization responsible for the production, transportation, and sales of tobacco and alcohol, meeting the demands of the public, and enforcing tobacco and alcohol monopoly laws. Its subordinate organizations, tobacco and alcohol distribution units, and licensed retailers were spread throughout Taiwan, creating a highly efficient marketing network. The profits generated from the public sale of tobacco and alcohol were submitted to the national treasury, fulfilling both economic and financial dual missions. Over the years, it has shown performance, with public sale profits consistently occupying a pivotal position in the national tax revenue. According to the "Interim Provisions for the Adjustment of Functional Business and Organization of the Taiwan Provincial Government," the Taiwan Tobacco and Alcohol Public Sale Bureau was restructured on July 1, 1999, to come under the Ministry of Finance, continuing to perform tobacco and alcohol administrative management and production and sales business. In recent years, in response to globalization and liberalization, the government has considered abolishing the tobacco and alcohol monopoly and opening up the production of tobacco and alcohol, successively announcing the "Tobacco and Alcohol Management Act" and the "Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act," which took effect on January 1, 2002, abolishing the monopoly system and returning tobacco and alcohol to the tax system. The "Taiwan Tobacco and Alcohol Corporation Act" was passed by the Legislative Yuan on April 25, 2002, and was announced by the President on May 15, 2002, leading to the reorganization of the Tobacco and Alcohol Public Sale Bureau into the "Taiwan Tobacco and Alcohol Corporation" on July 1, 2002. Source: Official Website of Taiwan Tobacco and Alcohol Corporation.
