Taiwan to Abolish Premarket Approval of Cosmetic Advertisements

Takehome:

To align with international cosmetic management practices, TFDA will abolish premarket approval of advertisements.

According to the Statute for Control of Cosmetic Hygiene published in 1972, cosmetic advertisements must be reviewed by the central or provincial hygiene administrative departments before publication. This regulation was enacted to protect Taiwan's consumers from misleading advertisements, however in light of recent IT technical developments and the ubiquity of mobile telecommunications, internet etc. The government has decided to update this rule.

The new regulations will align with requirements in Japan, Korea, and the United States where premarket approval of cosmetic advertisements is not required. Although the cosmetic advertisement regulation will be replaced, in the interim the following rules outlined in the original "Statute for Control of Cosmetic Hygiene" should still be followed and all advertisements containing obscenities, exaggerations, falsifications or misleading information should be avoided. Violations of these rules will be subject to a fine of NT $ 50,000 and severe violations will see manufacturers liable to legal proceedings or having their manufacturing license rescinded.