Taiwan Requires Meat Products to Be Imported with Official Certificates

According to Regulations for Systematic Inspection of Imported Food (first promulgated in 2014 and latest amended in 2019), only countries and regions that pass Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s equivalence evaluation of their food safety management system are permitted to export meat products, aquatic products, dairy products, etc., to Taiwan.

To better ensure food safety, Taiwan FDA issued a notice on July 11, 2022. It further requires livestock and poultry meat products to be imported with official certificates issued by competent authorities in exporting countries. Products subject to this regulation, requirements of certificates and implementation date are detailed below.

Major content of the notice

Involved products

Fresh, chilled, frozen, prepared or preserved livestock and poultry meat products which fall under HS code 02, 0504, 1601 and 1602
Canned livestock and poultry meat products which fall under HS code 1602

Requirements of certificates

Certificates shall

be issued by the competent authority of the exporting country;
be in the format agreed by Taiwan and the competent authority of the exporting country;
indicate the specified items (e.g. product name, country of origin, net weight and quantity) as per Article 2 and 3 of this notice.

Implementation date

The requirements shall come into enforcement on October 1, 2022 for “fresh, chilled, frozen, prepared or preserved livestock and poultry meat products which fall under HS code 02, 0504, 1601 and 1602”.
The requirement for “Canned livestock and poultry meat products which fall under HS code 1602” shall come into enforcement on July 1, 2023.