Can You Ship Food or Snacks to Taiwan?
- Packaged, processed snacks such as cookies, candy, chocolate, meat-free seaweed, and nuts can be shipped, as can roasted coffee. From mainland China, Pu'er is the only tea allowed; green, black, and oolong tea are listed MW0 and cannot be shipped.
- Products containing meat (jerky, meat floss, sausages, instant noodles with meat, meat-filled rice dumplings) are items subject to animal quarantine and may not be imported by post under Article 34, Paragraph 3 of the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases; such parcels are returned, confiscated, or destroyed. For pork products mailed from an African Swine Fever-affected area, the official penalty schedule is NT$200,000 for a first offence and NT$1,000,000 from the second, with criminal liability possible in serious cases. Fresh fruit and vegetables, seeds, and soil are subject to plant quarantine restrictions.
- Food for personal use is exempt from import inspection if its value is ≤ US$1,000 and its total weight is ≤ 6 kg.
- Food tariffs commonly range from 7.5% to 34%, including 25% for sweet biscuits and 27.5% for candy, while roasted coffee beans are taxed at 0%. Shipments with a customs value of ≤ NT$2,000 are tax-exempt, so most individual snack purchases incur no tax.
Basis: Article 30 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, the African Swine Fever mailing prohibition notice, and the Customs Administration tariff database, verified 2026-07.
Last verified and updated: 2026-07-24 ｜ Sources: Article 30 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, the African Swine Fever mailing prohibition notice, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, and the Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance
Can candy, biscuits and chocolate clear customs? What you can and cannot ship
Yes. Cookies, candy, chocolate and potato chips can clear Taiwan customs, whether shipped or carried in your luggage, as long as they contain no meat: food for personal use worth up to US$1,000 and weighing no more than 6 kg is exempt from an import inspection application (Article 30 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation), and shipments with a customs value of NT$2,000 or less are exempt from import duty. The one red line is meat — meat-floss pastries, Cantonese "chicken biscuits" (gai zai beng) and instant noodles with ham sausage are items subject to quarantine and can be neither shipped nor carried in. For beef-flavoured snacks, check the ingredient list; see the guidance below.
✅ Can be shipped (meat-free, processed, and packaged)
- Packaged cookies, candy, chocolate, potato chips, and rice crackers
- Meat-free seaweed, nuts, preserves, and dried fruit
- Roasted coffee beans or ground coffee; from mainland China, Pu'er is the only tea allowed (each type limited to ≤ 1 kg)
- Instant drink mixes, seasonings, and meat-free noodles
- Commercially sterilized canned foods in metal cans or retort pouches; canned meat is exempt from animal quarantine, but most canned meat made in mainland China is listed MW0 and cannot be imported
❌ Cannot be shipped (prohibited or restricted by quarantine regulations)
- Meat products: jerky, meat floss, sausages, cured meat, ham, bacon, and roast duck
- Processed foods containing meat: instant noodles with meat, mooncakes with meat, meat-filled rice dumplings, dumplings, pork meatballs, meat buns, and pizza
- Fresh products: fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat, and live aquatic animals such as Chinese mitten crabs
- Items subject to plant quarantine: seeds, seedlings, plants with soil, and fresh flowers
※ The key questions are whether the food contains meat, which makes it subject to animal quarantine, and whether it is fresh or plant-based, which may make it subject to plant quarantine. Processed, dried, sealed, and meat-free foods are generally the simplest to ship.
Can I bring beef-flavoured potato chips or beef biscuits into Taiwan?
Check the ingredient list, not the flavour name. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency's reference table states that "biscuits and instant noodles containing no livestock or poultry meat" are exempt from animal quarantine; products whose ingredients include beef powder, meat extract or pieces of meat are animal products subject to quarantine and must be declared at the quarantine counter. In 2025 the Agency explained that such highly processed powders pose a very low risk, but because they come in so many forms that are hard to assess, it advises against bringing them in. If you already have them with you on the plane, declare them voluntarily — voluntary declarations are not penalised.
Potato chips labelled only as "beef flavour" whose ingredient list contains no meat at all are treated like ordinary chips and are exempt from quarantine. Shrimp crackers with meat floss, chicken biscuits and almond cookies containing meat, however, are explicitly listed by the Agency as processed meat products subject to quarantine and can be neither shipped nor carried in.
Can I bring loose, unpackaged snacks bought abroad back to Taiwan?
Yes. There is no rule requiring loose snacks to be in their original packaging. Customs and the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration look at three things: whether the food contains meat (animal quarantine), whether it is fresh or contains seeds (plant quarantine), and whether it exceeds the personal-use inspection exemption threshold (US$1,000 and 6 kg). Within the threshold, no import inspection application is needed and no Chinese-language labelling is required; above it, the food must be submitted to the TFDA for inspection, and labelling is where loose products most often run into trouble.
A 2025 master's thesis from the College of Law at National Chengchi University found that the labelling non-compliance rate for imported food at border inspection is about 0.9–1.5%, 10 times the post-market rate (0.09–0.2%). We recommend keeping the shop's label for loose snacks or photographing the ingredient list so inspectors can identify what is in them.
Can I bring snacks and biscuits from mainland China into Taiwan?
Check the tariff code first: if it is flagged MW0, it cannot be shipped. Biscuits, candy and chocolate made in mainland China fall under Chapters 1–24 (agricultural products and foodstuffs). Where the tariff code is flagged MW0 (mainland Chinese goods not permitted for import), they cannot enter Taiwan by consolidated shipping or by post, and there is no personal-use allowance or small-quantity permit-exemption exception. Where the code is not flagged MW0, the goods are still subject to F01 food import inspection — items for personal use valued at US$1,000 or less and within 6 kg are exempt from applying for inspection (TFDA). Goods carried in person by inbound travellers are governed separately by Article 7, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 10 of the Regulations Governing Permission for Trade Between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area and the quantity limits announced by Customs; these rules are separate from those for consolidated shipping.
A sizeable share of mainland Chinese snacks is flagged MW0: in the HowBridge tariff database, 46 of the 62 tariff codes (74%) for biscuits and pastries in Chapter 19 carry MW0, as do 13 of the 28 (46%) for chocolate in Chapter 18. Before shipping, use the free tariff lookup to check the import regulation code.
Can I bring nut chocolate, dried fruit or dried shiitake mushrooms into Taiwan?
Yes. On 2025-07-30 the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency clarified that commercially packaged dried fruit (raisins, dried dates, dried longan), dried shiitake mushrooms and dried spices carry a very low risk of spreading pests and diseases, so no quarantine application is required on entry; roasted nuts, peanuts, tea leaves and coffee beans are likewise exempt from quarantine. Nut chocolate is a processed, packaged snack, so as long as it contains no meat it can be carried or shipped.
"Raw" nuts and seeds (fennel seeds, red beans, mung beans), however, are still plant products subject to quarantine and must be declared at the quarantine counter; uncooked peanuts in the shell are prohibited outright. As for tax: mixed nuts carry a tariff of up to 34% and chocolate about 10%, but shipments with a customs value of NT$2,000 or less are duty-free.
HowBridge core data (free to cite): snack and food tariff database statistics, 2026-09
The figures below come from the HowBridge tariff database (12,699 CCC tariff codes, synchronised with the Customs Administration tariff schedule). They explain why snack tariffs are almost never 0% and why snacks from mainland China should be checked for MW0 first:
| Tariff chapter | Tariff codes | Codes at 0% duty | Flagged F01 (food import inspection) | Flagged MW0 (mainland Chinese goods not permitted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter 19: biscuits, pastries and cereal preparations | 62 | 0 (0%) | 61 (98.4%) | 46 (74.2%) |
| Chapter 17: sugars and sugar confectionery | 33 | 2 (6.1%) | 27 (81.8%) | 10 (30.3%) |
| Chapter 18: cocoa and chocolate | 28 | 7 (25.0%) | 27 (96.4%) | 13 (46.4%) |
| Chapter 20: preparations of vegetables, fruit and nuts | 187 | 0 (0%) | 187 (100%) | 70 (37.4%) |
| Chapter 09: coffee and tea | 61 | 25 (41.0%) | 40 (65.6%) | 9 (14.8%) |
| Entire database: 12,699 entries | 12,699 | 4,212 (33.2%) | — | — |
What this means: across the four chapters covering biscuits, candy, chocolate and nut snacks, only 9 of 310 tariff codes (2.9%) carry a 0% duty, so the real key to paying no tax on snacks is keeping the customs value at or below NT$2,000. Over 96% of codes in those four chapters are flagged F01, meaning that once you exceed the personal-use inspection exemption threshold you must apply to the TFDA for inspection. Statistics as of 2026-09; actual duty rates and import requirements are subject to Customs' determination.
Why can meat products not be mailed to Taiwan? The African Swine Fever postal ban
⛔ Meat products require animal quarantine clearance and effectively cannot be mailed by individuals.
Under the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, meat and processed meat products, including vacuum-packed products, must be declared to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency for quarantine and accompanied by an animal quarantine certificate issued by the exporting country. Individual postal shipments can almost never satisfy these requirements. To prevent African Swine Fever (ASF), sending instant noodles containing ham sausage from China is strictly prohibited.
Which foods count as meat products requiring quarantine? Jerky, meat floss, pork-wonton wrappers, sausages, cured meat, hot dogs, bacon, ham, roast duck, salted duck, meat-filled rice dumplings, meat buns, meat rolls, beef meatballs, pork meatballs, dumplings, pizza, mooncakes containing meat, sandwiches, hamburgers, shrimp crackers with meat floss, instant noodles containing meat, liquid soups containing meat, and similar products.
Penalties are severe; mailing and carrying rest on different articles, but the amounts are comparable:
By post / consolidated shipping: Under Article 34, Paragraph 3 of the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, items subject to animal quarantine may not be imported by post; such shipments are returned, confiscated, or destroyed. Mailing pork products from an African Swine Fever-affected area breaches the ban issued under Article 28, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 and is punishable under Article 43, Subparagraph 8 by a fine of NT$50,000-NT$1,000,000; the official schedule is NT$200,000 for a first offence and NT$1,000,000 from the second (a second offence counts only if repeated within three years of service of the previous penalty). Unauthorised importation of a prohibited quarantine item may additionally incur criminal liability under Article 41: imprisonment for up to 7 years together with a fine of up to NT$3,000,000.
Carried in person by a traveller: Failing to apply for quarantine on arrival is punishable under Article 45-1 by a fine of NT$10,000-NT$1,000,000; for pork products carried from an African Swine Fever-affected area the schedule is NT$200,000 for a first offence and NT$1,000,000 for a repeat offence.
Exception: commercially sterilized canned food is exempt from animal quarantine. Commercially sterilized canned food intended for human consumption, whether packaged in a metal can or retort pouch, does not require an animal quarantine declaration even if it contains meat. However, most canned meat made in mainland China is listed MW0 (mainland goods not permitted for import), so it cannot be shipped from China; commercially sterilized canned food from other origins is fine.
Is there a quantity limit for food sent to Taiwan? Personal-use inspection exemptions
Direct answer under the law: Under Article 30 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, food or related products imported for personal use and not for sale are exempt from an import inspection application if their value is ≤ US$1,000 and their weight is ≤ 6 kg, according to the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration. Dried goods from China, including dried scallops, dried abalone, bird's nest, and shark fin, may also qualify for an inspection exemption if they do not exceed 1.2 kg. Food in tablet or capsule form is exempt if each type does not exceed 12 bottles and the total does not exceed 36 bottles, provided it remains in its original packaging.
| Food category | Conditions for personal-use import inspection exemption |
|---|---|
| General food products such as snacks, cookies, and candy | Value ≤ US$1,000 and total weight ≤ 6 kg |
| Tea leaves | No more than 1 kg of each type; agricultural, livestock, and aquatic products must not exceed 6 kg in total |
| Food in tablet or capsule form | Up to 12 bottles of each type and no more than 36 bottles in total, in original packaging |
Shipments exceeding these limits require an import inspection application with the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration and must comply with the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation. All food must be for personal use only and may not be sold. Reselling it may violate the law. Separate rules apply to Chinese mitten crabs and prohibited beef products.
What the research says: The Effectiveness Evaluation Report on the Program to Strengthen Imported Food Safety Management, completed in 2012 by the Food Industry Research and Development Institute on commission from the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission of the Executive Yuan, found that the TFDA's border inspection workforce averaged only about 81 people in 2010–2012 (37 permanent staff + 15 temporary staff + 29 contractors), well short of the 110 originally requested. From a consolidated-shipping perspective, the US$1,000 / 6 kg personal-use inspection exemption effectively reserves that limited inspection capacity for commercial consignments. Issue 12 (2021) of the TFDA's Annual Report of Food and Drug Research further notes that commercially imported food under general batch sampling is inspected at a rate of 2–10%, rising to 20–50% under intensified sampling, and that a product failing 2 consecutive batches is switched to batch-by-batch inspection — which is why clearance times for food above the exemption threshold are hard to predict.
How much tax is due on food sent to Taiwan? Import tariff rates
Food tariffs are actually relatively high, largely because many are protective tariffs on agricultural products. However, shipments with a customs value of ≤ NT$2,000 are tax-exempt, so most individual snack purchases incur no tax. Larger shipments exceeding the exemption threshold may be subject to significantly higher tariffs. The following rates have been checked individually against the Customs Administration tariff database:
| Food | Tariff code | Common tariff rate |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet biscuits | 1905.31 | Approximately 25% |
| Candy and peanut candy | 1704.90 | Approximately 27.5% |
| Prepared nuts, single type or mixed | 2008.19 | 7.5% for a single type of nut to 34% for mixed nuts |
| Tea leaves, including green and black tea (MW0 if made in mainland China; only Pu'er is allowed) | 0902.10 | Approximately 17%; some partially fermented teas, such as oolong, are approximately 25% |
| Chocolate | 1806.32 | Approximately 10% |
| Roasted coffee beans or ground coffee | 0901.21 | 0% |
| Coffee extracts or instant coffee | 2101.11 | Approximately 2% |
Customs value = product price + international shipping + insurance. Shipments with a customs value of ≤ NT$2,000 are tax-exempt under Article 49, Paragraph 2 of the Customs Act. The actual tariff rate is determined by the full 11-digit CCC code.
Related guides
- Complete guide to forwarding coffee and tea: green beans, roasted beans, illy, Twinings, and animal and plant quarantine
- Complete guide to forwarding coffee beans: Blue Bottle, Stumptown, and quarantine requirements
- What cannot be shipped from Taobao to Taiwan: prohibited and restricted items
- How much tax will you pay when shipping from Taobao to Taiwan? Real-time tax calculator
- How much tax will you pay when shipping purchases from Japan to Taiwan?
- The NT$2,000 import duty-free allowance and the 6-times-per-half-year rule explained
- Duty-free allowances and declaration rules for travellers' luggage entering Taiwan
Frequently asked questions about shipping food to Taiwan
Legal basis and official sources
- Articles 34, 41, 43 and 45-1 of the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, plus the penalty schedule for postal shipments — the ban on importation by post (Art. 34(3)), criminal liability for unauthorised importation of prohibited quarantine items (Art. 41), fines for breaching a published ban (Art. 43(8)), fines for travellers who fail to apply for quarantine (Art. 45-1), and the schedule for mailing pork products from an African Swine Fever-affected area (NT$200,000 first offence, NT$1,000,000 from the second).
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency African Swine Fever information portal: asf.aphia.gov.tw
- Taipei Customs, Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance, “May travelers bring vacuum-packed meat products or instant noodles containing meat into Taiwan?”: web.customs.gov.tw
- Ministry of Health and Welfare, “Inspection requirements for food brought or ordered from overseas” and “New inspection-exempt quantity limits for tablets and capsules imported for personal use”: mohw.gov.tw
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Reference Table of Quarantine Requirements for Common Animals, Plants and Their Products Carried by Inbound Travellers (biscuits and instant noodles containing no livestock or poultry meat are exempt from animal quarantine; roasted nuts, peanuts, tea leaves, coffee beans and commercially packaged dried fruit are exempt from plant quarantine): aphia.gov.tw
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, clarification of 2025-07-30, "Travellers carrying dried dates and other dried fruit do not need to apply for quarantine", and the FAQ "Why can canned food and instant noodles be brought into Taiwan?": clarification, FAQ
- Taipei Customs, Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance, "Agricultural, livestock and aquatic products and food": quantity limits for inbound travellers (food US$1,000 / 6 kg; cooked peanuts and tea leaves 1 kg each; agricultural, livestock and aquatic products 6 kg in total; 2025-09-01): web.customs.gov.tw
- Regulations Governing Permission for Trade Between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Article 7, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 10 (goods approved by the Ministry of Finance and announced by Customs as permitted to be carried in by inbound travellers): law.moj.gov.tw
- Chen Yu-chen, A Study of Administrative Regulation on the Correction of Chinese-Language Labelling of Imported Food (master's thesis, In-service Master's Program, College of Law, National Chengchi University, 2025; labelling non-compliance rate of 0.9–1.5% at border inspection vs 0.09–0.2% post-market): thesis.lib.nccu.edu.tw
- Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, Executive Yuan, Effectiveness Evaluation Report on the Program to Strengthen Imported Food Safety Management (RDEC-CONT-101-002, Food Industry Research and Development Institute, 2012; border inspection workforce of about 81 people vs 110 requested): ws.ndc.gov.tw
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