The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday urged international travelers to check the maximum limits of medicines, medical devices, food and cosmetic products that are allowed to be brought into Taiwan, and to remember that they can only be for personal use and are prohibited from being resold.
Under the Regulations Governing the Declaration, Inspection, Duty and Release of Personal Luggage or Goods of Inward Passengers (入境旅客攜帶行李物品報驗稅放辦法), inbound travelers can carry up to 12 bottles, boxes, cans, bars or sticks of one kind of nonprescription medicine, and no more than 36 in total, FDA Medical Products Division deputy head Wu Ming-mei (吳明美) said.
Travelers carrying prescription medication without a doctor’s prescription or documented proof are limited to a two-month supply, while those with a prescription can bring in a reasonable supply, but no more than a six-month supply, she said.
Medicine brought in from other countries can only be for personal use, and people who resell it face a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$2 million (US$949 and US$63,241) under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), Wu said.
Many Taiwanese like to buy “Alinamin EX Plus” tablets from Japan, but the product is categorized as a medicine, not a dietary supplement, so it can only be purchased for personal use, she said.
While cold medicine containing codeine can be bought over the counter in some countries, it is considered a controlled drug in Taiwan, so it must be brought in with a doctor’s prescription, she said.
A license is required to import medical products, but some are exempt, although there is a limit on the amount brought in and they must be for personal use, FDA Medical Devices and Cosmetics Division deputy head Chien Chia-hung (錢嘉宏) said.
They include adhesive bandages (no more than 60 pieces), liquid bandages (no more than four bottles), medical cotton swabs (no more than 200 pieces), condoms (no more than 60 pieces), tampons (no more than 120 pieces), daily disposable contact lenses (no more than 60 pieces, one brand, two different diopters), prescription eyeglasses (no more than one pair) and medical masks (no more than 250 pieces), Chien said.
Inbound travelers can carry up to 12 bottles, boxes, jars, packs or bags of food tablets or capsules for personal use, and no more than 36 bottles in total, FDA Food Safety Division deputy head Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智) said, adding that general food products for personal use should be worth no more than US$1,000 in total and not exceed 6kg in total.
Fines totaling NT$8.71 million were issued for 474 cases recorded in 2021 and last year, Cheng said, adding that one person was fined NT$180,000 for selling vitamin products and collagen tablets purchased from other countries on online platforms.
There are also maximum allowable limits for certain types of cosmetic products, such as sunscreen, hair dye or perm solutions, antiperspirant or deodorant, and at-home teeth whitener treatments, Chien said.
Travelers can bring in no more than 12 bottles, boxes, jars, packs or bags of each for personal use, and no more than 36 bottles in total, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS