TAIWAN

Country Alert - July 3, 2008

Capital: Taipei
Population:  23,036,000
Currency: New Taiwan Dollar
Official Language(s): Mandarin Chinese

I. CHEMICAL MAXIMUM RESIDUE LEVELS (MRLs)

Please click on the above link for a list of chemical MRLs.

II. CHEMICALS AND ADDITIVE INFORMATION

    A. Chemical residue standards:

      Taiwan sets its own maximum residue levels.  Newer chemical compounds registered for use in the U.S. may not yet have an MRL in Taiwan.  The default MRL for compounds not yet approved by Taiwan is zero.  Provisional MRLs, based on U.S. MRLs, have been established for each commodity if a chemical's registrant submitted a data package to Taiwan back in October of 2000.  Please see MRL table in Section I above for specific chemical information.  Since this situation is not yet fully resolved, read table and footnotes carefully.

      Please refer to the Taiwan Department of Health's website for permanent Taiwan MRLs.

B. Monitoring chemical residues:

      The Taiwan authorities monitor chemical residues on imported fruits, including apples, pears and cherries. Samples are tested using multiple residue analysis for approximately 60 chemicals. Target chemicals include chlorpyrifos, diazinon, methidathion, dimethoate, ethion, methyl parathion, phosmet, chlorathalonil, captan, dicloran, iprodione, carbaryl, thiabendazole, phosalone and mevinphos.

      Taiwan has announced its intention to test imported fruit at the rate of one load in forty.

    C. Restrictions on use of waxes:

      None, but authorities reserve the right to inspect fruit for the use of wax.

III. ORGANIC FRUIT REGULATIONS

Taiwan accepts other country's organic certification labels.  No re-certification by Taiwan agencies is required.  All imported organic foods must follow the same inspection and quarantine rules which apply to conventionally produced product.

IV. TARIFFS

              Apples                     20%
              Pears                       10%
              Cherries                   7.5%

Oriental pears are subject to a tariff rate quota with an in-quota duty of 18 percent.

The tariff is CIF and initially assessed on the basis of a reference price.  Periodically, the government of Taiwan establishes a Transaction Price (TP).  The TP is used to determine the duty due from Taiwan importers for fruit shipped during the timeframe immediately preceding the TP determination. 

    Any difference between the reference price and the TP will result in either an additional duty assessment or duty rebate from Customs to the importers.

    In addition to the tariffs, a 0.3 percent harbor construction fee is required for all imported and exported goods.

V. NON-TARIFF BARRIERS

    A. Labeling requirements:

      Product name, grade, size, weight and origin should be displayed on cartons.

    B. Licenses and quotas:

      Import permits are required for apples. Permits are available to every importer who applies for them, but permits are only valid for six months.

    C. Currency Issues:

      Foreign exchange is regulated by Central Bank, but controls should not affect normal commercial transactions.

    D. Pest and plant disease restrictions:

      Apples inspected and certified under the "Systems  Approach Work Plan for the Exportation of Apples From the United States to Taiwan (2005)" are eligible for export to that country.  Packers are urged to select lots for export to Taiwan that are at low  risk for detection of live larvae.  These selections are best made through consultation with packinghouse field staff and/or the grower's licensed pesticide consultant.

      For a copy of the document needed to log packing house inspections, click on this document link.  For a copy of the forms necessary to record the results of on-tree or field bin sampling, click on this document link.

      Apple shipments from all U.S. growers and packinghouses are subject to stringent inspection upon arrival.

      A phytosanitary certificate is required. 

      Apples and pears:  must be free from Cydia pomonella (codling moth), Conotrachelus nenuphar (plum curculio), Erwinia amylovora (fireblight), Frankliniella occidentalis (western flower thrips) and Rhagoletis pomonella (apple maggot).

      On August 7, 2008 USDA/APHIS issued new inspection guidelines concerning fruit decay in apples destined for export to China.  Contact your local state inspection service official for more information.

      Cherries, peaches and nectarines:  must be free from codling moth, plum curculio, fireblight, western flower thrips and Anarsia lineatella (peach twig borer).

      Shipments transiting third counties or districts with quarantine concerns:  Strict regulations apply to shipments that transit Vancouver, B.C. or other third countries en route to Taiwan.  However, if a cargo is loaded in the U.S. and transits a third country en route to Taiwan but never leaves the aircraft or vessel in which it was originally loaded, the third country transit regulations do not apply.

      Shipments transiting California must be safeguarded due to existing quarantines for Mediterranean fruit fly.  For more information, refer to Country Alert, July 3, 2008.

      Phytosanitary Inspection Level in Taiwan:  Upon arrival in Taiwan, ocean containers selected for inspection are inspected at the rate of six or more cartons per 1,000 cartons.  All the fruit in a carton is looked at.  Two percent of the cartons in the first 100 cartons are inspected; out of each additional 100 cartons, one carton is inspected.

      A minimum of three containers will be inspected on consignments of 10 containers or less.  For every additional 10 containers in a consignment, at least one more container will inspected.

E.  Trademark Registry:

      To protect and register a U.S. trademark in Taiwan, firms must work through Taiwan's Trademark Office.  The Foreign Agricultural Service's Horticultural & Tropical Products Division recommends that organizations contact the U.S. Embassy Foreign Agricultural Service for assistance.

F. Solid Wood Packaging Material (SWPM) Regulations:

VI. SUBSIDIES

None.

VII.  MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES FOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST TREE FRUIT INDUSTRY

Washington Apple Commission:

Steve Chu/Tony Hung
Taipei, Taiwan
Voice:  011 886 2 2726 1939
Fax:     011 886 2 2726 1815
E-mail:  scafms@ms11.hinet.net

Pear Bureau Northwest:

Steven Chu
Steven Chu & Assoc. Co. Ltd.
Taipei, Taiwan
Voice:   011-886 2-2726-1939
Fax:      011-886 2-2726-1815
E-mail:  scafms@ms11.hinet.net

Northwest Cherry Growers:

Ling Ling Wang
LL & Wang Ltd.
Taipei, Taiwan
Voice:  011-886-0-1194-5965
E-mail:  ling05.wang@gmail.com

VIII.  OTHER RESOURCE LINKS:

Governmental: 

IX.  ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Taiwan became the 144th WTO member on January 1, 2002.

Special thanks to
American Institute in Taiwan's Agricultural Section

105 South 18th Street, Suite 105
Yakima, Washington 98901, USA
Voice: (509) 453-3193, Fax: (509) 457-7615

E-mail general@nwhort.org