The New Taipei City Department of Health yesterday confirmed that Team Power Healthcare had imported unapproved masks from China and relabeled them as made in Malaysia.
Food and Drug Management section head Yang Shu-chin (楊舒秦) said that Team Power Healthcare did have a medical device permit license for masks manufactured in Malaysia, but had moved its manufacturing site to China and did not apply for a new license immediately.
“The company imported the masks [from China] before obtaining a [new] medical device permit license, so it contravened Article 83 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法),” she said.
Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Department of Health
The company’s actions appear to have also contravened Article 255 of the Criminal Code, and the New Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office would open its own investigation.
Article 83 stipulates that “any person who manufactures or imports medical devices without obtaining prior approval may face imprisonment up to three years or a fine up to NT$10 million [US$340,368],” Yang said.
Article 255 stipulates that a person found guilty of intent to defraud others by making a false mark or indication of the country of origin or quality on merchandises could face up to one year in prison or a fine up to NT$30,000.
Earlier this month the department received a list from the central government of companies with unusual imports, including Team Power Healthcare, and the central government and the city cooperated in investigating the companies, Yang said.
Further details on the case, including the manufacturing site of the masks, the number of masks imported and where they were sold, are still under investigation by the Investigation Bureau’s New Taipei City Field Division, and cannot be released, she said.
The Chinese-language Want Weekly (周刊王) yesterday reported that the New Taipei City Department of Health issued a document on Tuesday last week informing the New Taipei City Medical Instruments Commercial Association of alleged illegal behavior by Team Power Healthcare on Sept. 4, so healthcare facilities in the city should pull the firm’s masks from their shelves.
Want Weekly cited a medical device salesperson identified only as Amy as saying that the company had for more than a decade been selling medical products, including masks and sterile gauze made in China, as made in Malaysia.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) told reporters that the investigation was a good example of collaboration by the central government, the city’s health department and the bureau’s New Taipei City Field Division, adding that those responsible for the illegal imports would be held accountable.
In Taipei, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the Central Epidemic Command Center, said the government would look into some bids the company was involved with, in addition to tracing where it sold its masks.
Additional reporting by CNA
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS