7. Importation Requirements

2 Mins to read

Share
Dark
Light

Article summary

Did you find this summary helpful?

Thank you for your feedback

General Foods
Taiwan

This section provides information on the importation process (shipment, customs, licenses required, and test requirements).

7.1 Shipment Declaration

The importation process is normally managed by local companies or their appointed custom broker.

The documents required [1] include:

Air Waybill (AWB)
Invoice or commercial invoice—One copy shall be enclosed
Packing List (P/L)
Import Permit (I/P) (as described in the sections below)
Two copies of the cargo value declaration
Conditions of Certificate of Origin (C/O) Submission (where applicable)
Catalogs, manuals, or drawings--to be submitted according to customs inspection or valuation
Others—subject to laws and regulations governing corresponding articles

7.2 Customs Procedure

Application for inspection with TFDA and declaration of the relevant information of the product is required and shall be in accordance with the customs commodity code and classification of the designated number for the imported food.

The Regulations of Inspection of Imported Foods and Related Products [3] provide guidance on the procedure for the process. The Applicant or Representative shall file an application for inspection to the inspection authority at the port of entry within fifteen days prior to the entry date. The documents required include:

An application form for inspection
A declaration form of product information
A photocopy of the application for import declaration
Necessary documents and papers required by the Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare

Certain food products (e.g. infant milk formula) will require to provide a copy of the MOHW consent letter. The company should refer to the Regulation Instruction codes provided in the Classification of Commodities and Regulation set by the International Trade Administration [2].

The inspection authority has several different food inspection procedures. The procedure taken will be based on the risk of the imported food. Below is the list of inspection processes that may be taken:

Batch-by-batch inspection: Inspect each submitted batch of product on an on-site verification and sampling analysis basis.
Randomly-selected batch inspection: Randomly select each submitted batch of product by following inspection rate, and inspect the chosen product by on-site verification and sampling analysis.
Regular randomly selected batch inspection: The inspection is performed based on a 2-10% inspection rate.
Reinforced randomly selected batch inspection: The inspection is performed based on a 20-50% inspection rate.
Batch-by-batch verification: On-site inspect each submitted batch of product.
Certification inspection: Certificate Document inspection for an excellent industry that is registered by an entente or agreement between the health and safety competent authority of Taiwan and the exporting country.
Oversee inspection: For specific products, each submitted batch of product shall be inspected by on-site verification and sampling analysis. And the inspection rate is not changed by the inspection result. [3]

7.3 Manufacturing License

There is no requirement for imported products to seek approval for manufacturing facilities.

7.4 Test for Importation

The test done is dependent on the type of food imported, and/or if there are safety alerts based on domestic and foreign information. The company has the responsibility to ensure the imported food product meets the hygiene standards set by the Taiwan FDA.