Travelers returning from abroad may only bring 36 containers of medication or health supplements into Taiwan, health officials said on Saturday, as people prepare to travel overseas during the summer break.
The types of containers include bottles, packets and paper wrappers as stipulated by the Regulations Governing the Declaration, Inspection, Duty and Release of Personal Luggage or Goods of Inward Passengers, health officials said.
The weight limit for traditional herbal medicines is 12kg. The medication may not include more than 12 kinds of ingredients or plants.
Photo: Chang Hsieh-sheng, Taipei Times
“Taiwanese tend to buy souvenirs and pharmaceutical products when traveling abroad, usually cold medication, powders and pills for indigestion or stomach ache, painkillers, cough medicines, anti-itch creams and eye drops,” the Nantou County Public Health Bureau said in a statement.
“These are bought either for personal use or as gifts for family and friends,” it said.
Outbound travelers who are on medication need to take the prescription issued by a doctor, clinic or hospital with them, health officials said.
The amount of medicine they can carry on their person may not exceed the prescribed dosage, they said, adding that they may carry up to six months’ of medication.
When abroad, people should assess their personal needs when buying drugs or health supplements and should not buy them for friends or family, the officials said.
They should also refrain from buying too much to prevent waste, they said.
It is illegal to sell medication and health supplements brought from abroad, as they may only be brought in for personal use or for family members, the regulations stipulate. Offenders can face fines.
The officials cited the case of a naturalized Taiwanese citizen who recently brought back large amounts of pharmaceutical products from her former country and sold the unused items online.
She was fined NT$30,000 for contravening the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), the officials said.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
RSS