Importing Organic Food into Taiwan: Requirements and Process, from Equivalency Recognition to Organic Labeling

When organic food is imported into Taiwan, an organic certificate issued in the exporting country is not by itself enough for the product to be sold as “organic”. Taiwan’s system requires the importer to clear two independent gates at the same time: the Ministry of Agriculture (農業部) for organic status recognition, and the Taiwan FDA (衛生福利部食品藥物管理署) for food safety inspection. Whether the country of origin is an “organic equivalency agreement country” also directly determines how difficult and how long the application route will be. The key points on equivalency recognition, the import review process and labeling rules are set out below, for reference by retail buyers and brand owners.

1. Two Gates: Organic Status Recognition and Food Safety Inspection in Parallel

• Agriculture and Food Agency (農業部農糧署): issues the “organic labeling consent document”, which determines whether a product may be sold under the “organic” designation.
• Taiwan FDA: responsible for border inspection for food safety, determining whether a product may be lawfully imported, regardless of whether it is presented as organic.
• The two fall under different regulations and different application channels, and neither may be omitted: clearance from the Taiwan FDA does not mean the product may be sold as organic, and the reverse is equally true.
• Fresh plant products and primary agricultural products must additionally go through plant quarantine handled by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (防檢署).

2. The Dual-Track System: Equivalency Agreement Countries and Foreign Certification Body Registration

Under Article 17 of the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act (有機農業促進法), there are two statutory routes for a foreign organic product to be lawfully labeled “organic” in Taiwan:

Route A: registration of foreign certification bodies — the supplier’s organic certification body must already be registered with the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture has registered foreign certification bodies in 16 EU member states; products certified by those bodies may follow this route.

Route B: organic equivalency agreement — the country of origin must have a bilateral agreement with Taiwan, and the importer must obtain approval. Seven countries have signed bilateral agreements to date: Australia (2020-01-23), Japan (2020-02-01), New Zealand (2020-04-30), Canada (2020-05-30), the United States (2020-05-30), Paraguay (2023-04-25), and India (2024-07-08).

Note: the EU as a whole has not signed an equivalency agreement with Taiwan; the United Kingdom signed separately in May 2024. Unilateral recognition mechanisms have all been abolished. For products from other countries not listed, it must be confirmed whether the certification body falls within the register; otherwise the products cannot be imported and sold under the organic designation.

3. Key Points in the Import Process: From Business Registration to Inspection Clearance

• Product assessment: check the CCC tariff code, confirm import requirements such as B01 (animal and plant quarantine) and F01/F02 (food border inspection), and confirm whether the product is on the approved import list.
• One-time business registration (valid long term, no need to repeat for each consignment): the Agriculture and Food Agency’s “importer registration” plus the Taiwan FDA’s “food importer registration”.
• Obtain the foreign organic certification documents: request a valid certificate from the exporter before shipment, and confirm that the certification body qualifies under Route A or Route B.
• Apply for the Agriculture and Food Agency’s “organic labeling consent document”: an application must be filed each time a new product is imported; it is the statutory precondition for selling under the organic designation.
• Arrange a phytosanitary certificate depending on the item: sufficiently processed items are usually exempt, but this still has to be confirmed case by case.
• Customs declaration and inspection: the Taiwan FDA divides consignments by risk into batch-by-batch inspection (100%), enhanced sampling (20–50%), and general sampling (2–10%); document review takes about 3–7 working days, and sampling with laboratory testing about 1–4 weeks. A consignment that fails may apply for re-inspection within 15 days; if it still fails, it is returned or destroyed.
• Duty payment, release and warehousing, with the Chinese-language label completed before the product goes on sale.

4. Organic Labeling Rules: Mandatory Items and Prohibited Claims

The Chinese-language label must show in full: the product name (including the word “organic”), ingredient names, country of origin, the importer’s name, address and telephone number, the name of the certification body, the certificate number or the consent document number (either one), the shelf life, and the net weight/volume.

Organic marks: use of Taiwan’s organic agricultural product mark requires authorization applied for from the Agriculture and Food Agency; foreign marks (such as USDA Organic and JAS) may be shown alongside it, but cannot serve as the sole basis for organic recognition in Taiwan.

Prohibited labeling: a product must not be claimed as “100% organic” (where not all ingredients are organic), and vague wording such as “natural” or “pure” must not be used to imply organic status. Under Article 31, paragraph 1, subparagraph 3 of the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act, selling agricultural products that have not completed certification under the organic designation or by “other means sufficient to mislead others” shall be subject to a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$600,000, imposed separately for each instance — the scope may extend to the graphic mark itself, even where the Chinese word 「有機」 does not appear.

5. Common Sticking Points

• Assuming that a foreign organic certification alone allows a product to be sold as organic — an Agriculture and Food Agency consent document is still required, or confirmation that the certification body is registered.
• Assuming that the equivalency agreements cover the EU — the EU as a whole is currently not on the list.
• Discovering only after shipment that the product is not on the approved import list — this should be checked and confirmed before the order is placed.
• Overlooking the one-time business registration, so that the first import is held up unexpectedly.
• Omitting the importer’s Taiwan address and telephone number from the Chinese-language label.
• Failing to properly retain records such as the organic consent document, the inspection clearance notice, invoices and bills of lading.

Organic food imports fall under the jurisdiction of several authorities — the Ministry of Agriculture, the Taiwan FDA, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency and the Customs Administration (關務署) — and the list of equivalency agreement countries and the register of foreign certification bodies are updated as bilateral negotiations proceed. Before proceeding in practice, it is advisable to confirm the current requirements with the competent authority case by case.

---

This article is a general reference, not legal advice. For an actual application, the current announcements of the Agriculture and Food Agency and the Taiwan FDA prevail.