. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/TPKM/100 
23 February 2007 
 (07-0773) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF 
TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU  
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Department of Health 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):   Food products.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  All 
countries. 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Amendment of 
Regulations of Inspection of Food Imports (Draft, available in English, 6 pages, 
http://food.doh.gov.tw/english/Ac ts_Regulations/Proposed.asp). 
6. Description of content:   
1.  Establish an annual inspection program b ased on risk management, in order to 
standardize the inspection of imported prod ucts.  The program shall be set up in 
accordance with the Laws Governing Food Sanitation, and shall clearly specify 
inspection methods, categories, and major inspection items. 
2. Improve the inspection method in order to encourage businesses to implement 
autonomous sanitation management. 
(1) Batch-to-batch inspections are further di vided into general batch inspections and 
enforced batch inspections.  Chances that a batch will be selected shall be adjusted 
to 2% - 5% and 20% - 50%, respectively. 
(2) Adjust the threshold of the lowered inspection level for imported products. 
3. Intensify the responsibilities of businesses in violation of the regulations. 
(1) When applying for inspection of imported products under the category of batch-to-
batch inspection, the importer (applicant)  shall submit the report of testing and 
analysis results, and shall pay all inspection fees. 
(2) In the event that importers (applicants) continue to import products that do not 
comply with the regulations, the releva nt businesses or government organizations 
of the country of export shall be request ed to submit improvement plans.  In 
extreme cases, applications for import inspection may be temporarily suspended 
until it has been confirmed that the problems can be resolved.  G/SPS/N/TPKM/100 
Page 2  
 
   (3) In the event that products which have b een granted Advanced Release while still 
under inspection are opened and used wit hout approval, the organization executing 
the inspection shall reserve the right to te mporarily reject the application from the 
importer (applicant) for Advanced Release for six months. 
(4) Inspection fees for imported products which have failed to pass inspections shall 
be payable by the importer (applicant)  upon applying for re-inspection. 
7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests   
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [ X ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:   
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  The Act Governing 
Food Sanitation (full texts may be dow nloaded from the following website: 
http://food.doh.gov.tw/english/Acts_Reg ulations/Foodsafety_1.asp?lawsidx=393). 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  To be determined. 
12. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification. 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
Bureau of Food Safety 
Department of Health 12F, 100 Ai-Kuo E. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan, Postal Code 100 
Tel:  886-2-23210151 ext 370 
Fax:  886-2-23929723 E-mail:  fshung@doh.gov.tw
 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
Bureau of Food Safety 
Department of Health 
12F, 100 Ai-Kuo E. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan, Postal Code 100 
Tel:  (+886) 2 23210151 ext 370 Fax:  (+886) 2 23929723 E-mail:  fshung@doh.gov.tw