Beginning on July 1, retailers are forbidden to sell any shampoo, soap, body wash, body scrub or toothpaste that contains microbeads, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.
Those contravening the new regulations are to be fined between NT$1,200 and NT$1,600, and the offending product is to be subjected to a mandatory recall and disposal or be returned to the original manufacturer, the agency said.
The regulations to ban microbeads in products and the standards for inspections were promulgated in August and November last year respectively.
The agency on Tuesday said that its nationwide inspection of personal hygiene and cosmetic products showed that all local companies are in compliance with the planned ban on the import and manufacture of microbeads.
The inspections, conducted between January and April, tested 657 products from 257 companies, with only one manufacturer technically failing the first inspection on account that the proprietor was absent, the agency said.
The proprietor was present during the second inspection conducted last month, whereupon the company’s products were found to be in compliance, it said.
The agency called on the public to check the content labels of any hygiene or cosmetic products that claim to remove calluses, cleanse hair follicles or provide a deep cleanse and those that state they contain microbeads.
Products that contain polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate or nylon should be considered suspicious and reported to the agency, it said.
Microbeads are problematic because they are non-degradable and they are a significant pollutant of the world’s oceans, Environmental Protection Administration Department of Waste Management Director-General Lai Ying-ying (賴瑩瑩) said.
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