Taiwan Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance states that some traders have lately been found to falsely declare the country of origin of imported goods due to negligence, thereby resulting in false declaration of origin and violation of the Customs Anti-smuggling Act. Customs Administration calls on importers to pay attention to the correct country of origin of the imported goods when importing goods from abroad, and to declare the imported goods with authentic detailed information in accordance with the Regulations Governing the Determination of Country of Origin of Imported Goods to avoid penalties for violations.

Customs Administration further illustrates the aforementioned point with the following example: a Taiwanese importer places an order with a foreign seller and the goods are shipped to Taiwan through a third country. The said importer, without prior confirmation with the foreign seller, mistakenly regards the third country as the goods’ country of origin. In particular, if the third country, such as Singapore or New Zealand, has signed an  Economic Cooperation Agreement/Free Trade Agreement with Taiwan, the importer will also be eligible for the application of preferential tariff treatment. In previous actual cases where the imported goods’ country of origin was finally determined to be mainland China based upon the result of customs examination, Customs would not only deny the importers their application of preferential tariff treatment, but also penalize them for false declaration of county of origin in accordance with the Customs Anti-smuggling Act.

Customs Administration further states that, if importers import prohibited/restricted mainland Chinese commodities announced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (M.O.E.A.) without presenting approval document issued by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, M.O.E.A. or declaring the correct origin country, they could violate regulations related to false declaration of the country of origin and escape of Customs control. According to Paragraph 3, Article 37 along with Paragraphs 1 & 3, Article 36 of the Customs Anti-smuggling Act, not only will the goods be confiscated, but a maximum fine of three times the value of the goods will be imposed as well. Customs Administration would like to remind importers not to violate relevant laws or regulations and endanger their own rights and interests by filing false declaration of the goods’ country of origin due to temporary negligence. 
Phone: (02)2550-5500 ext.2521