Page 53 - TAIWAN TOBACCO CONTROL ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Training for Enforcement Personnel for the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act Enforcement of the new provisions of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act in 2009 represented a major advancement in safeguarding the public from smoking hazards. Enforcement personnel shall be familiar with the provisions of the Act in order to ensure the integrity of law enforcement, achievement of the Act's objectives, preventing legal contradictions when interpreting the law, and preventing the issuance of erroneous administrative penalties that may result in unnecessary conflict. Hence, legal systems, interpretations of individual cases, references to legislation in other countries, and training of enforcement personnel shall be implemented to ensure the integrity of Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act enforcement. "Basic Enforcement Personnel Training Program" and "Advanced Enforcement Personnel Training Program" were therefore organized to improve the understanding of the amended provisions in the Act and strengthen inspection capabilities of enforcement personnel from local health bureaus. The "Basic Enforcement Personnel Training Program" focused on courses on the amended provisions, secondary provisions, and enforcement methods of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act so that local enforcement personnel have an accurate understanding of the Act, the ability to comply with legal administrative procedures and evidence collection, issue effective administrative penalties, and transfer the results to other enforcement personnel of local competent authorities. The "Advanced Enforcement Personnel Training Program" courses focused on improving understanding about the amended provisions in the Act and other associated laws, the Administrative Procedure Act, Administrative Penalty Act, the composition of administrative penalties and appeals against them, and practical legal enforcement techniques. The advanced course aimed to ensure the competency of local competent authorities in conducting practical research on legal problems for effective implementation and enforcement of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act. In 2018, a total of four "Basic Enforcement Personnel Training Program" courses and one "Advanced Enforcement Personnel Training" course were held, with 213 and 50 attendants respectively. Additionally, in order to understand the course benefits and training effectiveness and determine whether the trainees were able to apply knowledge acquired from the courses in subsequent practice of tobacco control enforcement, the HPA monitored each trainee in terms of levels of understanding of relevant provisions and laws for tobacco control and differences between the amended and original provisions, professionalism in tobacco control, confidence in legal enforcement, and course contents. Results of the training assessments indicated that most students were satisfied and greatly appreciated the contents of various courses on tobacco control laws. Training results also demonstrated that systematic training could help enforcement personnel acquire robust understanding and practical skills of tobacco control provisions, and improve their knowledge of the amended provisions of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act and other associated laws. These knowledge improved the trainees' confidence and ability in law enforcement and provided practical assistance and support in their legal duties. 51 Reducing the Demand for Tobacco