Taipei - Taiwan said Thursday it plans to put a health tax on betel nuts because chewing them can cause cancer.

The Bureau of National Health Insurance announced the plan and Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang gave his backing to the idea.

"If the technicalities of how to impose the tax have been solved, we will do it because it could help improve people's health and could increase funds for national health insurance," he said.

The health insurance bureau plans a tax of two Taiwan dollars (6 US cents) per packet of 20 betel nuts.

However, critics argue it would be hard to police the tax.

Taiwan farmers grow 140,000 tons of betel nuts each year to meet the needs of betel nut chewers who are mainly farmers, labourers and long-distance truck drivers.

Betel nut, which is a stimulant, can keep one awake, but the juice destroys the teeth and can cause cancer of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus and stomach.

Chewing betel nuts combined with drinking and smoking further raises the risk of developing cancer, studies by Taiwan doctors have shown.

As early as 2003, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) listed betel nut as a cancer-causing agent.

In Taiwan, mouth cancer is the fastest-increasing kind type of cancer among men, with some 5,000 new cases and 2,300 deaths reported each year, according to the Department of Health. (dpa)