Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川), minister of the Department of Health, said that the price of a pack of cigarettes is expected to increase by between NT$10 and NT$15 following the increase in the health surcharge.

Currently, a pack of cigarettes sells for NT$55 on average.

Yeh estimated that the surcharge, which currently contributes NT$20 billion a year to government programs, would generate between NT$32 billion and NT$36 billion after the increase, but he said he would not mind if his projection turned out to be too high.

"If more people quit smoking, the government's revenues from the health surcharge will decrease, but this is something the government would love to see," he said.

Yeh indicated that NT$1.4 billion, or about 4 percent of the health surcharge, will be used to help low- and middle-income families pay part of their health insurance premiums.

The DOH will also allocate NT$10 billion to the financially strapped National Health Insurance program.

To avoid confusion and profiteering, cigarette manufacturers will either print or affix a sticker reading "NT$20 health surcharge" on each pack to help differentiate between old and new cigarettes.

Yeh said that starting June 1, tobacco distributors cannot raise the price of cigarettes that do not have the "NT$20 health surcharge" marking, though they can continue to sell them.

Government agencies will monitor the market to prevent distributors from hoarding cigarettes ahead of the June 1 launch date and selling them for a higher profit margin, he added.

"The situation of consumers buying old cigarettes at the price of the new cigarettes will not happen," Yeh pledged.

The John Tung Foundation, an anti-smoking group, recently criticized the DOH for only spending NT$160 million from the surcharge funds to help the public kick the habit of smoking, while shelling out NT$600 million to subsidize tobacco manufacturers to print or affix the new marking.

Yeh replied, however, that the DOH has already received confirmation from four major tobacco manufacturers, including Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp., that they will do the markings themselves at no extra cost to the government.

For small tobacco manufacturers who will affix a sticker to their cigarettes, a subsidy of NT$10 million will be paid by the DOH's Bureau of Health Promotion rather than be taken out of the health surcharges, Yeh said.