Ministry of Finance Redefines "Goods Subject to Import or Export Control" Under Customs Anti-smuggling Act

01/01/2013

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Letter Ref. No.: Tai-Cai-Guan-Zi-09800093420 issued by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), dated 20 April 2009 ("2009 MOF Letter"), interpreted the term "control/controlled" prescribed under Articles 3, 37, 38, 39 and 53 of the Customs Anti-smuggling Act as having the same meaning. The 2009 MOF Letter also defined the meaning of "control/controlled" in each of the aforesaid articles as having the meaning of goods which are prohibited from importation or exportation or goods subject to control according to relevant "prescriptions". The relevant "prescriptions" listed in the MOF 2009 Letter include: (1) Paragraphs 1 and 2, Article 15 of the Customs Act which specify certain goods that are prohibited from importation, and Paragraph 3 of the same Article which stipulates some other goods prohibited from importation by law, administered by the competent authorities; (2) "Controlled Goods, Controlled Items and Methods of Control" announced by the Executive Yuan in accordance with the Statute for Punishment of Smuggling; (3) Regulations Governing Permission of Trade Between Taiwan Area and Mainland Area which prescribes certain goods originating from Mainland Area are prohibited from importing into Taiwan Area; and (4) relevant foreign trade acts and regulations which impose control on the importation or exportation of goods as governed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Further to the 2009 MOF Letter, on 8 November 2012, the MOF issued Letter Ref. No.: Tai-Cai-Guan-Zi-10100653890, which further clarifies that the "law" prescribed by Paragraph 3, Article 15 of the Customs Act, the first of the aforesaid four stipulations, should include: (1) counterfeit veterinary drugs and forbidden veterinary drugs in Articles 4 and 5 of the Veterinary Drugs Control Act, (2) prohibited agro-pesticides and counterfeit agro-pesticides in Articles 6 and 7 of the Agro-pesticides Management Act, (3) police weapons in Article 1 of the Police Weapon Use Statute, (4) illegal tobacco and illegal alcohol in Article 6 of the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act, (5) counterfeit drugs and prohibited drugs in Articles 20 and 22 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, (6) medical devices in Article 40 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, (7) medicated cosmetics in Paragraph 1, Article 7 of the Statute for Control of Cosmetic Hygiene and cosmetic colorants in Article 8 of the said Act, (8) plants, plant products and other goods prohibited from importing in Articles 14 and 15 of the Plant Protection and Quarantine Act, and (9) objects subject to quarantine (i.e., animals and their products that are restricted from importation) in Article 33 of the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Disease. Consequently, Letter Ref. No.: Tai-Cai-Guan-Zi-09800093420 was abolished and substituted by Letter Ref. No.: Tai-Cai-Guan-Zi-10100653890, and the abolition was effective upon the issuance of the latter.