Ever since the Age of Exploration in the middle of the 16th century, the seeds of tobacco have been spreading to places where the merchants' ships could reach. The tobacco was spread from the American continent to the rest of the world. It not only grew where it was planted, but it bloomed and created the beginning for the tobacco industry in every country.

　　As with the Indians in America, the earliest record of tobacco in Taiwan came from the aboriginals. It had been said that the tobacco came into Taiwan from Philippine between 1560 and 1580. However, it wasn't clear exactly which country's merchants brought the tobacco to Taiwan.

　　The earliest tobacco on record was brought to Taiwan by a group of Chinese hired by the Dutch East India Company in 1642. The planting area wasn't very large, as it was limited to personal uses. It wasn't until 1885, when Ming-Chuan Liu sent messengers to Philippine's Luzon Island to bring back Luzon tobacco, did Taiwan begin to systematically plant tobacco.

　　Tobacco used to be called "green gold" in Taiwan. Because of its high profitability, it could always bring a tremendous amount of revenue to the government. Therefore, it was classified as a controlled substance during the Japanese reign. The Japanese not only brought in yellow tobacco, but it even designed and built a large tobacco immigration village.

　　In an attempt to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), Taiwan opened its doors to foreign tobacco products in 1987, and it had restructured the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau into the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation. This company that was once a protected government-owned monopoly was now open to the competition in a free marketplace. This was the first time Taiwan's tobacco industry had faced a major challenge.

　　During the 56th World Health Assembly in May 2003, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was proposed and subsequently passed behind the support of 190 countries. The FCTC was effective as of February 27, 2005. From that point on, every country's government started to look at the tobacco related problems seriously. They were hoping to put the tasks of tobacco control into action, through a series of legislative processes.

　　Unfortunately, because of the enormous amount of profit at stake, the tobacco companies use their power and influence to make the tobacco farmers, the restaurant owners, and other related businesses put pressure on the legislators, claiming that the law does not care about the tobacco farmers' rights, that the related businesses are going out of business, and the law neglects the people's basic rights. Because of the above skewed reasons, Taiwan's Amendment to Tobacco Control and Prevention Act could not be passed into law. It seems that the anti-tobacco and pro-tobacco groups are going to be playing the tug of war for the years ahead.