1 
 Restrictions on the Manufacture, Import, and Sale o f Personal Care and 
Cosmetics Products Containing Plastic Microbeads  
 
Overview of Draft  
 
In order to facilitate exfoliation and cleaning, en terprises have 
commonly added solid plastic microbeads to personal  care and cosmetics 
products based on considerations of product cost an d product function and 
effectiveness. However, since solid plastic microbe ads possess the 
characteristics of small size, small mass, and larg e quantity, after they are 
rinsed off, they cannot be effectively collected, r emoved, or disposed of, and 
consequently enter water bodies and the environment  via the sewage 
collection system. In the marine environment, the m icrobeads readily adsorb 
harmful substances and may accumulate within the bo dies of aquatic 
organisms, causing harm to the environment and ecos ystem.  
 
In view of the fact that solid plastic microbeads d o not naturally 
decompose in water bodies or the environment, and t heir small particle 
diameter makes them difficult to eliminate, various  countries have gradually 
imposed controls on plastic microbeads contained in  products, such as facial 
cleanser, body wash, and toothpaste. Because plasti c microbeads constitute 
one of the additive components in products, many co untries have preferred 
to adopt restriction at the source, while regulatin g the microbeads at the 
product stage, which achieves the goals of effectiv e management and 
reducing impact on various parties. For instance, t he United States 
completed legislation of the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 on 
December 28, 2015, and the regulations of the US Fe deral Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act have prescrib successive bans on the m anufacture, import, and 
sale of cleansing cosmetics containing plastic micr obeads starting from July 
1, 2017; France, Canada, and Korea have also begun legislation of controls 
on personal care products containing plastic microb eads, such as cleaning 
products, cosmetics, and rinsing cosmetics.  2 
  
 In light of international management trends, and i n order to reduce the 
use of products containing plastic microbeads at th e consumer-end by 
inducing domestic manufacturers to adjust their raw  material composition 
and change to environmentally-friendly substitute m aterials, and inducing 
importers to purchase products not containing plast ic microbeads, the 
Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan has accordingly 
drafted the Restrictions on the Manufacture, Import, and Sale o f  Personal 
Care and Cosmetics Products Containing Plastic Micr obeads (Draft)  as 
authorized by Article 21 of the Waste Disposal Act ; the Restrictions  
prescribe the restriction in stages of the manufact ure, import, and sale of 
personal care and cosmetics products containing pla stic microbeads, with the 
provision of a transition period for the controlled  materials; the key points of 
the Restrictions  are as follows: 
1. Definition of the name of the Announcement (Anno unced Item I) 
2. Types of controlled personal care and cosmetics products, and 
their scope. (Announced Item II) 
3. Limitations on the audit of product manufacture,  import, and sale 
(Announced Item III) 
4. Time-limited improvement measures imposed when n oncompliant 
products are found (Announced Item IV) 
 
  3 
 Draft of the Restrictions on the  Manufacture, Import, and Sale of  
Personal Care and Cosmetics Products Containing Pla stic Microbeads  
 
Public Announcement  
 
Announcement  Explanation 
Subject:  
The "Restrictions on the Manufacture, 
Import, and Sale of Personal Care and 
Cosmetics Products Containing Plastic 
Microbeads (Draft)" with the provisions 
of sale of Item II taking effect from July 
1, 2018, and the remaining provisions 
taking effect from January 1, 2018.  1.  Name of Announcement and date of 
implementation. 
2.  At present, most personal care products 
containing added plastic microbeads on 
the market take the form of shampoo 
products, bathing products, facial 
cleansing products, soaps, facial scrubs, 
and toothpaste; the first four of these 
product types are regulated by Taiwan's 
management law, the Statute for Control 
of Cosmetic Hygiene. Because these 
regulations will affect the rights and 
interests of enterprises handling products 
subject to the Statute for Control of 
Cosmetic Hygiene, to clarify those 
subject to the regulations in this 
announcement, the summary refers to 
both cosmetics and personal care 
products. 
3.  In view of environmental public interest 
and the rights of manufacturers and 
importers who have received a 
"medicated cosmetics permit" from the 
Ministry of Health and Welfare prior to 
the date this Announcement takes effect, 
and in view of the time needed to adopt 
response measures in conjunction with 
this Announcement, and the need for a 
reasonable transition period of at least 6 
months after the announcement and 
implementation of the World Trade 
Organization's Technical Barriers to 
Trade (TBT) agreement, it is accordingly 
specified that personal care and 
cosmetics products containing plastic 
microbeads may not be manufactured or 4 
 imported beginning on January 1, 2018; 
this will provide enterprises a transition 
period of at least 16 months from the date 
of the pre-announcement of this Draft on 
August 23, 2016. 
4.  In view of the time needed to sell those 
personal care and cosmetics products 
containing plastic microbeads that have 
been manufactured and imported legally 
prior to the date this Announcement takes 
effect, in reference to the approach and 
control schedule adopted by the first 
nation imposing legislative controls, the 
United States, and an evaluation of the 
proposed laws and methods associated 
with the controls that France, Canada, 
and Korea will impose starting in 2018 in 
reference to the plastic microbead control 
methods adopted by the United States, it 
is hereby specified that the second stage 
of controls will take effect ahead of time 
from July 1, 2018, at which time full-
scale control will be achieved by the 
prohibition of the sale of personal care 
and cosmetics products containing plastic 
microbeads. 
Basis:  
Article 21, Waste Disposal Act   Legal basis. 
Announced items:  
I. Terms used in this Official Announcement 
are defined as follows:  
A.“Cosmetics” means those products termed 
cosmetics in the Statute for Control of 
Cosmetic Hygiene .  
B. “Personal care products” means those 
products used for cleaning one's body, and 
which must be cleaned off or rinsed off 
with water after use.  
C.  "Facial scrub" means those preparations 
in liquid, paste, cream, or gel form 
containing microbeads and used for the 
functions of skin exfoliation or cleaning.  
D.“Toothpaste” means products generally 
used to protect the surface of people's 
teeth and surrounding tissue, specifically 
semi-solid or powder blended products 1.  Definition of terms used in this 
Announcement. 
2.  The definitions of cosmetics are in 
accordance with the regulations of 
Article 3 of the Statute for Control of 
Cosmetic Hygiene , which is the 
governing law concerning cosmetics in 
Taiwan, and the types and scopes of 
cosmetics party in accordance with the 
central health competent authority's 
relevant announcements.  
3.  The definition of toothpaste is in 
accordance with the regulations of  
Chinese National Standards  (CNS) 
15492.  
4.  The definition of plastic microbeads is 
adopted from the United States' 
Microbead- Free Waters Act of 2015; the 5 
 that take the form of a paste, cream, or 
gel.  
E.“Plastic microbeads” means solid plastic 
particles used for exfoliation or cleaning 
of the body wherein the scope of particles 
diameter is smaller than 5 mm, and the 
material of which they are made includes 
biodegradable plastic. 
F.“Manufacturer” means an enterprise that 
engages in the manufacture of personal 
care and cosmetics products.  
G.“Importer” means a business that engages 
in the importation of  personal care and 
cosmetics products.  
H.“Vendor” means a business that engages 
in the sale (including wholesaling, 
retailing, and presentation as gifts or 
prizes, etc.) of personal care and 
cosmetics products. materials used in those microbeads 
currently commonly seen on the market 
consist of such substances as 
polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), 
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), 
polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and 
nylon.  
 
II. Manufacturers, importers, and vendors may 
not manufacture, import, or sell the 
following personal care and cosmetics 
products containing plastic microbeads:  
A.  Cosmetics used for washing hair, 
cosmetics used for bathing, cosmetics 
used for face-washing, and soap as 
defined in relevant provisions of the 
Statute for Control of Cosmetic Hygiene .  
B.  Facial scrub. 
C.  Toothpaste. 1.  Types of personal care and cosmetics 
products containing plastic microbeads 
controlled pursuant to this 
Announcement and scope of controlled 
items.  
2.  This Announcement specifies the types 
of cosmetics whose manufacture, import, 
and sale are restricted in accordance with 
the "List of Cosmetic Scope and Types" 
announced under authorization in Article 
3 of the Statute for Control of Cosmetic 
Hygiene , and also includes those personal 
care products to which plastic 
microbeads may be added under the 
scope of control. 
3.  The chief function of a facial scrub 
consists of smoothing the skin; such 
products contain an extremely high 
proportion of microbeads, and rely on 
exfoliation-employing microbeads made 
of various materials to smooth the skin. 
III. The competent authority may dispatch 
personnel (carrying identification 
documents) to enter manufacturer’s, 
importer’s or vendor’s premises to inspect 
personal care and cosmetics products 
manufacturing, importation or vending 1.  The competent authority may enter 
operating premises in order to perform 
audits and sampling inspection of the 
state of manufacture, import, and sale of 
personal care and cosmetics products.  
2.  With regard to sampling and testing for 6 
 operations, and may request each product 
and relevant information, and the 
manufacturer, importer or vendor may not 
refuse, seek to evade, or obstruct such 
inspection. 
 the presence of plastic microbeads in 
personal care and cosmetics products, as 
a rule, enterprises must provide up to a 
limit of three samples needed for te sting; 
of these samples, one shall be used to 
provide a basis for legal enforcement in 
connection with the current inspection, 
another may be used for re-testing, and 
the competent authority shall preserve 
one sample in order to avoid subsequent 
disputes. However, if the amount of a 
sample is excessively small, and is 
insufficient for testing and measurement, 
the competent authority may require an 
enterprise to provide a sufficiently large 
sample to meet sample testing needs. 
  
IV. After the competent authority has performed 
inspection and testing of personal care and 
cosmetics products whose manufacture, 
import, or sale is restricted, when plastic 
microbeads have been found, the competent 
authority may require the vendor to take 
down the products, and order the 
manufacturer or importer to recall the 
product in question from stores, and return 
or dispose of the product (in accordance with 
the provisions of the Waste Disposal Act ), 
within a specified time limit. 
 Regulations governing improvement within a 
limited time period if sample testing discovers 
controlled personal care and cosmetics 
products.