To fight unscrupulous business operators who hoard resources to raise the price, the Central Epidemic Command Center for influenza A (H1N1) formulated three strategies: “Investigation, Release, Requisition” which will be implemented in three stages.At the second meeting held by the Central Epidemic Command Center on April 30, 2009, Premier of the Executive Yuan Liu specifically warned business operators against price gouging and those who make unconscionable price hikes would be punished according to the law.After the meeting, government agencies involving in the prevention of unreasonable price increase formulated three strategies which will be conducted in stages.

The first strategy, “Investigation”, implemented in the first stage has been conducted by the Ministry of Justice on April 30, 2009.The implementation method was disclosed and discussed by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office of the Ministry of Justice at the press conference held on May 1, 2009.

The second strategy, “Release”, implemented in the second stage involves releasing the national stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) when necessary.The Ministry of Economic Affairs will evaluate the timing for releasing the stockpile of PPE and coordinate the amount of release as an attempt to stabilize commodity prices.Further, the Department of Health will provide the PPE stockpile to the Ministry of Economic Affairs upon the Health Minister’s request.
。
The third strategy, “Requisition”, implemented in the third stage is formulated in accordance to Article 54 of the Communicable Disease Control Act. During the establishment period of the Central Epidemic Command Center, all government agencies have to follow the instructions of the commanding officer, the Minister of Health, when requisitioning medical resources.In addition, according to Article 61 of the Communicable Disease Control Act, individuals found to stock up medical resources in order to raise the price of the commodity will be sentenced to imprisonment from one year up to seven years, and may also be fined up to NT$ 5 million.