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 Regulations for the Inspection and Examination of Imported Cosmetics  
 
These Regulations  have been translated into English according 
to the original Chinese version. If there is any inconsistency or 
ambiguity between these two versions, the Chinese version shall 
prevail.  
Article 1  These regulations have been established according to Paragraph 2 of  
Article 14 of the Cosmetic Hygiene and Safety Act (the “Act”).  
 
Article 2  Definition: terms used in these regulations:  
1. Inspections: This refers to border checks or examination before 
permitting the importation of cosmetics.  
2. Examination: This refers to conducting sensory, physical, 
chemical, or biological tests and experiments in a laboratory.  
3. Inspection authorities: This refers to inspection enforcement by the 
central competent authority or its appointed agencies 
(organizations), corporations , or groups . 
4. Obligatory inspection applicants: This refers to cosmetics 
importers.  
 
Article 3  For cosmetics required for inspection as promulgated by the competent 
authority in accordance with Paragraph 1 of Article 14 of the Act, the 
obligatory inspection applicants shall file an application for inspection 
and submit the following documents and information to the inspection 
authority at the port of entry within fifteen (15) days prior to the date of 
import:  
1. A copy of the application for import declaration.  
2. Necessary documents required by the inspection authority.  
 
The application of the preceding Paragraph can be submitted 
electronically.  
 
If the representative files the application of Paragraph 1, a letter of 
Power of Attorney and the identification documen ts for the 
representative, corporation , or business shall be submitted.  
 
Article 4  Cosmetics pursuant to Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article that 
conform to one of the following situations may be exempted from 
inspection:  
1. Products to be imported are issued with a certificate of 2 
 examination by the government of the country of origin who has 
signed an examination waiver reciprocity agreement with the 
government of the Republic of China.  
2. Others with the special permit of the central competent authority.  
 
Article 5  The c entral competent authority shall inspect the compliance of  
imported cosmetics; the inspection shall not include the situations 
mentioned in Article 7 and Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Act.  
Obligatory inspect ion applicant shall legalize the items of the preceding 
Paragraph before the products were supplied, sold, gifted, publicly 
displayed, or offered for consumer trial.  
 
Article 6  In addition to documentation review (as prescribed in Paragraph 1 and 
Paragraph 3 of Article 3), inspection authority may carry out the 
inspection of imported cosmetics in one or some of the following 
measures:  
1. On-site inspection: check items, inspect  the appearance of the 
packaging, labels , and other related items on site.  
2. Randomly -selected batch examination: perform based on a 
2%-50% inspection rate.  
3. Batch -by-batch examination: carry out for each submitted batch of 
imported cosmetics.  
 
Article 7  The samples required for inspection shall be taken free -of-charge. The 
maximum  number (amount) of sampling shall be limited to what is 
required for inspection purpose. After collecting the samples, the 
authority shall issue a receipt to the obligatory inspection applicant.  
 
For the sampling mentioned in the preceding Paragraph, the obligatory 
inspection applicant shall not designate the sample.  
 
Article 8  The inspection and sampling shall be conducted at the storage site of 
products. If the products shipped in full container load, the inspection 
and sampling shall be conducted at th e centralized inspection area or 
the specified zone approved by Taiwan Food and Drug Administration  
of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (TFDA) . 
 
Article 9  
 The examination of imported cosmetics shall be conducted in the order 
of sampling. However, the original examination laboratory shall 
prioritize inspection on products applying for re -examination according 
to Paragraph 2 of Article 11.  
 
Article 10  Due to the difficulty of sampling in a container yard, requiring five or 
more days for examination, or deterioration  or lack of stability of 
cosmetics, the inspection authority may issue a notice of prior release 
for import for customs clearance after the obligatory inspection 
applicant signs an affidavit of custodial responsibility.  
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 If the pledged storage  location does not conform to the actual storage 
location, or for anyone who intentionally uses, moves, provides, sells 
or gifts cosmetics before issuing the import permit, the inspection 
authority may suspend the acceptance of an application for prior rel ease 
of import by the obligatory inspection applicant within 180 days from 
the day of discovery.  
 
Article 11  After imported cosmetics applied for inspection are found to conform 
to the regulations, the inspection authority shall issue an import permit 
to the obligatory inspection applicant. The obligatory inspection 
applicant may apply to the inspection authority for a written permit.  
 
The obligatory inspection applicant shall claim  the remaining samples 
by presenting the sampling receipt within 15 days af ter receiving th e 
permission. However, if the sample is not claimed within the statutory 
period or has a short shelf life, the inspection authority may dispose of 
the samples directly.  
 
Article 12  In the event the imported cosmetics fail to conform to reg ulations, the 
inspection authority shall issue a notification of noncompliance for 
cosmetics to the obligatory inspection applicant.  
 
The obligatory inspection applicant may apply for re -examination to 
the original inspection authority within 15 days after receiving the 
preceding notification, and the application is limited to one -time only. 
The original inspection authority performs re -examination by using the 
remaining samples.  
 
Remaining samples of imported cosmetics that do not conform to 
regulations shall be destroyed after the end of the period of application 
for re -examination or receiving the notification of noncompliance by 
the o bligatory inspection applicant unless otherwise stated by law.  
 
Article 13  The imported cosmetics fail to conform to regulations ; the inspection 
authority shall conduct the following measures follow ed by the result 
of randomly -selected examination or insp ection unless otherwise stated 
by law:  
1. Violation of Paragraph 2 of Article 10 of the Act, the obligatory 
inspection applicant may apply for a correction which improves 
within a given period. The correction may be made after the 
products were imported if the inspection authority approves.  
2. Fail to apply for the correction per the preceding Subparagraph, 
the application was not approved or other noncompliance matters, 
the obligatory inspection applicant shall conduct a return or 
destruction.  
The products of the preceding Paragraph were prior released per 4 
 Paragraph 1 of Article 10 shall be conducted per preceding Paragraph.  
 
Article 14  In the event the cosmetics applied for inspection correspond to one of 
the following situations, the inspection authority may  require the 
obligatory inspection applicant to submit documents or information 
before a given date, to explain the reasons for non - compliance , and a 
proposed improvement plan with preventative measures. Before the 
approval is granted, the application of re-examination of products 
belong to the same cosmetics registration number or permit license 
shall not be accepted:  
1. Products belong to the same registration number or cosmetics 
permit license of the same obligatory inspection a pplicant , and 
whose batch -by-batch examination results do not conform to 
regulations for two times.  
2. Products belong to the same registration number or cosmetics 
permit license, and whose inspection results do not conform to 
regulations for three times within 180 days from the  day of the 
failure of the inspection.  
 
Article 15  In the event the cosmetics applied for inspection correspond to one of 
the following situations, the inspection authority may suspend the 
acceptance of an application for products inspection from the same  
manufacturer, same origin, or same exporting country:  
1. Products mentioned in the preceding Article requiring documents 
and information are not provided before the given date.  
2. Products mentioned in the preceding Article requiring documents 
and information provided are not approved upon review.  
 
Article 16  The application fees for border checks and examination per Article 30 
of the Act shall include the following:  
1. Review fees: the fees for reviewing the application of inspection 
by inspection authority.  
2. On-site inspection fees: the fees for sampling, checking items, 
examining the packaging, labels , and other related inspection 
measures by inspectors.   
3. Extended operation fees: the fees for applying the extension of 
inspection by obligatory inspection appl icant or representative.  
4. Documentary operation fees: the fees for re -issuance, replacement, 
additional copy , or correction of the import permit . 
5. Examination fees: the fees for products batch -by-batch 
examination  or re-examination.  
The fees in the Subparag raph 1 to Subparagraph 4 of  the preceding 
Paragraph is described in Annex. The fees in Subparagraph 5 shall be 5 
 collected based on Fee -Charging Standards for Lot Release, Reference 
Materials, and Testing of Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics.  
 
Article 17  When conducting inspections according to these regulations, inspectors 
shall present the identification documents about  the performance of 
their duties.  
 
Article 18  These regulations shall take effect on July 1, 2019.  
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 Annex
  
Category  Fee-charging Standard (New Taiwan Dollars)  
1. Review Fees   The standard of review fee adopts  duty-paid value, and the fee 
is charged in accordance with following rates:  
1. The rate of imported cosmetics is 2.5‰.  
2. The fee of NTD  500 for an application shall be collected 
when the review fee is less than NTD 500. The exceeding 
part shall be half collected if the fee is over NTD 100,000.  
2. On-site Inspection 
Fees 1. The on -site fee of NTD 500 for an inspector shall be collected 
if batch es of products are stored at the same place and the 
on-site inspection is conducted at the same time  
2. The on -site fee of NTD 300 for an inspector shall be collected 
if the inspection authority has offices stationed in the harbor 
storehouses or container yard, and the same obligatory 
inspection applicant stores the products at the same place and 
the on -site inspection is conducted at the same time.  
3. Need to collect or inspect products at the pledged storage 
location: The on -site fee of NTD 1000 an inspector  shall be 
collected if batches of products are stored at the same place 
and the on -site inspection is conducted at the same time.  
4. If the inspector cannot commute to the place of inspection 
and back within the same day, the on -site fees shall be 
additionall y collected in accordance with the costs and 
expenses set forth in the Operating Guidelines Governing 
Domestic Business Travel Expenses formulated by the 
Executive Yuan.  
3. Extended Operation 
Fees 1. The inspection authority may charge extended operation fees, 
according to the following periods:  
(1) On weekdays, from 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. or 5:30 p.m. to 10 
p.m., NTD 400 per person;  
(2) On holidays, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., NTD1,000 per 
person;  
(3) Every day from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day, NTD2,000 
per person.  
2. The operation for the same obligatory inspection applicant 
crosses different period, the highest rate shall be applied.  
4. Documentary 
Operation Fees  NTD 100 per document.  
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