Taiwan R.O.C.

• Labeling Requirements
• Licensing
• Required Documents
• Import Procedures
• Taxes/Tariffs
• Contacts

LABELING REQUIREMENTS

The following information must be provided on all labels, in Traditional Chinese (except for brand names of imported alcohol products, names and addresses of the foreign manufacturers, and any geographical indications):

1. Brand name: The brand name should be printed in a large, broad or bold typeface. The typeface shall be larger than that of other labeling.  Brand names that are solely labeled or combined with other words, patterns, marks, or numbers, shall convey no erroneous impression or inference as to the age, origin, identity, or other characteristics of the product
   
   
2. Product type (i.e. beer, grape wine, brandy, whisky, rice spirits, etc.)

3. Alcohol content: The alcohol content shall be labeled by degrees, %, % vol., or % by volume, and shall be stated by a number.  The tolerances allowed for the alcohol content referred to in the preceding paragraph is 0.5 degree.  For alcohol products having an alcohol content of 7% or less, an expiration date or the bottling date shall be indicated; provided, where only the bottling date is indicated, the period of validity shall also be specified

4. Origin of imported alcohol products: Before making custom declarations, importers shall submit the certificate of origin issued by the government or chamber of commerce authorized by the government of the place (country) of production or the government or chamber of commerce authorized by the government of the place (country) of exportation to the central competent authority for examination.

5. Names and addresses of manufacturer and importer.

6. Volume: The net contents of alcoholic beverage shall be stated in liter, centiliter, milliliter, l (L), cl, or ml.

7. Warning Statement such as "Excessive drinking endangers health"

8. Other labeling required to be included by the central competent authority

9. Manufacturers/importers may label the year, age, or geographical indication of the wine and spirits.

Please see the National Treasury Agency’s page on regulations governing the labeling of alcoholic beverages: http://www.nta.gov.tw/en/law/law_4.asp.
 
GM (Genetically Modified) Food Labeling:

Taiwan requires that certain products containing over five percent GM ingredients must be labeled according to the GM Foods Labeling Regulation.  Wine, however, is not currently listed among the food products required to have this information.

Back to Top

LICENSING

Pursuant to Item 1, Article 9 of the Trade Law, entities are able to import or export after being registered with the Bureau of Foreign Trade as an importer/ exporter.

Registrations for importers/exporters can be submitted through the Trade Service Department of the BOFT (Bureau of Foreign Trade) in Taipei and Kaohsiung as well as the Joint Service Center of MOEA (Ministry of Economic Affairs) in central and south Taiwan.

Registration can be done in person, by mail, by fax, or by internet.  Below are the steps potential importers should take in order to complete the registration process.
 
In person:
Complete and attach the “Application for Registration as an Importers/Exporter” with any relevant documents, and submit to any of the locations mentioned above.
 
Via fax:
Complete the “Application for Registration as an Importer/Exporter” and any relevant documents and fax these to the Trade Service Department of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (Fax numbers: 02-2321-7241, 02-2396-5836) or the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Kaohsiung Office (Fax number: 07-281-1396).  A fax reply will be generated after such application is approved by the BOFT.  Data for the Importers/Exporter will be available through the BOFT website.

Via mail:
The completed “Application for Registration as an Importer/Exporter” and any relevant documents should be mailed together to the Trade Service Department (#1, Hu Kou St., Taipei Taiwan 100) or the BOFT Kaohsiung Office (7th Floor, #436, Cheng Gung 1st Rd, Kaohsiung Taiwan 801).  Data for the Importers/Exporter will be available through the BOFT website.

Via internet:
Importers/Exporters can register online through the service available under “The e-Government Entry” (http://www.gov.tw).  To successfully complete the registration process, any documents relevant to the application process should be faxed to the Trade Service Department of BOFT (Fax numbers: 02-2321-7241, 02-2396-5836) after the online application has been submitted.  Data for the Importers/Exporter will be available through the BOFT website.

Back to Top

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

The following is a list of the documents that are needed when importing into Taiwan (for Customs and inspection purposes):

IMPORTANT: New rules allow wine exporters to apply for a health certificate waiver.  This application consists of two self-certification statements, one in English and one in Chinese, which must be filled out and accompany shipments when going through Customs.  The Chinese document must be filled out by the importer, while the English version is to be completed by the exporter or producer.  The implementing agency for this process is the National Treasury Agency.

The two documents may be downloaded below (in PDF format):

• Certification Statement (in English)
• Certification Statement (in Chinese)

Apart from these two documents, documents that must be presented at time of Customs clearance may include those below:

• Application for Inspection of Imported Alcohol 

• Customs Declaration Import Form

• Air Waybill (AWB): There are two types of air waybills: Master Air Waybill (MAWB) and House Air Waybill (HAWB).  Taiwanese Customs only requires a photocopy of this form.  Those declaring by physical means shall submit both an AWB and a Customs Declaration Import form. The AWB will be returned to the applicant for claiming their goods, with a seal affixed, after the completion of the cargo clearance.

• Invoice/Commercial invoice: Two copies shall be enclosed (only one copy needed from government agency or state-run business applicants).

• Packing list: Not needed for bulk, mass or single-package cargoes (regardless of whether inspection is required or not).

• Import Permit: Applicants shall submit the Import Permit for import of restricted articles as defined in items 111, 112, 121 and 122 of the Lists of Restricted Imports issued by the CETRA, MOEA.

• Power of attorney: Must define the authorization of the clearance house/broker, and must be signed by the taxpayer.  (Please note that each applicant (i.e. importer) shall authorize no more than three clearance houses (i.e. brokers) each year at the same Customs office; and the term of authorization shall last no more than one year.)

• Cargo Value Declaration: Two (2) Copies.  To be submitted on the condition that special relation is stated in the declaration.

• Certificate of Origin

• Sanitary/Phytosanitary Certificate

The following are documents needed in order to process registration as an importer/exporter with the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT):

• One photocopy of Profit-seeking Enterprise Registration Certification
  
  
• Application for Preview on English Title for importers/exporters

Back to Top

IMPORT PROCEDURES

The importer, or an authorized "clearance house" shall fill out (or by printing out from the computer) the Customs Declaration Import Form and deliver or transfer the form to the Customs office.

Declarations shall be made to the Customs office within 15 days of the cargo arriving on Taiwanese territory.
.
The Taipei Customs Office (TPCO) is the Customs authority responsible for cargo clearance within Taipei, and provides 24-hour services of declaration services, cargo inspection, classification/estimation, taxation and releasing for fresh goods by airmail and express cargoes.  Please see the Directorate General of Customs’ website (http://eweb.customs.gov.tw/) for further information on the Keelung, TaiChung, and Kaohsiung Customs offices.

Declarations may be done in one of two ways: online or in person (physical declaration).

Online Declarations:

• The applicant should complete the online declaration and fill in all required columns.

• A member of the "Licensed Customs Declaration Staff", after examining all data, may use a "card key” issued by the Customs office or other authorized means approved by the Customs office, to proceed with the electronic declaration.

• Cargo clearance for products entering Taiwanese Customs may go through one of three (3) clearance “modes”:

• C1 - Inspection-exempt cargo clearance
  
  
• C2 - Cargo clearance with documents review; and
  
  
• C3 - Cargo clearance with inspection.

• A response should be received shortly after transmitting the application.  The reply may include an error declaration or a notification of an incomplete supply of documents.  Or, if the declaration is complete and accurate and approved as C1, the responding message may be a Tax Payment Slip or relief.

• For those approved as C2 or C3, a "written declaration" should be submitted to the Customs office within the business hours of the following day.

• The content of the "written declaration" should be identical to that of the "electronic declaration".

• If the Customs discovers that the content of the cargo is different from that of the declaration, the applicant shall make an online correction by the deadline given.  For declarations whose clearance model has been approved, all corrections should be made on written forms.  All reporting cases shall be subject to relevant rules.

Physical Declarations:

1. The applicant should print or type the declaration form by using the "Registering Paper" and submit it to Customs for file archiving.

2. The Custom charges an "archiving fee" if the file is created by Customs on behalf of the applicant.

3. The procedures to follow after file archiving will be the same as that of on-line declaration.  However, in instances where corrections to the declaration are required, these will be done manually rather than electronically.

4. Please see the “Required Documents” section for more information on the documents needed when submitting the Customs Declaration Import form.

Please note: Beginning January 1, 2006, Taiwan will implement new “Regulations Governing the Inspection of Imported Alcohol” (this may be found online, at http://www.nta.gov.tw/en/law/law_18.asp) for wine, fruit wine, and beer; and on July 1, 2006 for distilled spirits.  Importers of alcoholic beverages may submit documentation of sanitary inspection or safety assurance issued by officials in charge of alcohol product inspection or professional alcohol associations of exporting countries to substitute for product inspection upon Customs clearance.

Back to Top

TAXES/TARIFFS

For the most current tariffs and taxes applied to imported products for this country, please visit the Online Tariff Database provided by Tariffic at: http://www.tariffic.com/ITA/, and click on “On-The-Fly Tariffeed”.  Please ensure you have a 10-digit HS classification code in order to obtain tariff information.  Also see the Census Bureau’s Schedule B search function (http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/index.html), which allows you to classify your product according to United States export codes. Simply click "Search" and enter the keyword (i.e. beer) that best describes your product.

Back to Top

CONTACTS

Most of the information in this guide was obtained from direct contact with various governmental organizations and embassies, as well as online sources.  The FAS Attaché reports at: http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/attacherep/default.asp served as the primary (online) sources used for this report.

Back to Top