Mailing Medicine to Taiwan: Getting the Quantity Limits, Prescription Rules, and Penalties Right
📅 Last updated: 2026-09-01 · ✍️ HowBridge Consolidation Editorial Team · 🛡️ Reviewed by an AEO-certified partner customs broker
- Mailing non-prescription (over-the-counter) medicine for personal use: no more than 12 bottles per shipment, 12 tubes for tube-type products, or 1,200 tablets in total, and you cannot file a repeat request within 6 months (Regulations for Management of Drug Samples and Gifts, Article 6, Paragraph 2).
- Prescription drugs are not “banned from mailing”: they can be mailed for personal use, but you must apply for an import approval letter in advance, with quantity limited to a reasonable amount under the prescription, plus a diagnosis certificate and prescription from a domestic medical institution.
- Melatonin is regulated as a drug in Taiwan (Department of Health announcement of October 15, ROC year 85), not a dietary supplement; the exception is dried pineal gland powder from cattle, sheep, or pigs with a melatonin content of 20 ppm or less, which may be used as a food ingredient.
- The penalty clause is the part most often misquoted: the “up to NT$2 million fine” circulating online comes from Articles 92, 92-1, and 96-1 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, and it applies to drug dealers, manufacturers, and license holders -- not individuals. An individual who imports medicine without approval falls under Article 22 as a “banned drug,” which triggers the criminal liability in Article 82. The two must not be mixed up.
- Nitrous oxide is a concerned chemical substance under the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act, requiring approval, labeling, and reporting, and it is prohibited from being sold by mail order, e-commerce, or similar means.
Quantity Limits for Non-Prescription Drugs and Their Legal Basis
When you mail or courier non-prescription medicine to Taiwan for personal use, each shipment is capped at 12 bottles, 12 tubes for tube-type products, or 1,200 tablets in total, and you may not file a repeat request within 6 months. This is based on Article 6, Paragraph 2 of the Regulations for Management of Drug Samples and Gifts, announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on June 5, ROC year 103, and effective from July 1, ROC year 104.
Many roundup articles blur two separate things together: mailing or courier shipments back to Taiwan fall under the Regulations for Management of Drug Samples and Gifts (which require an import approval letter), while medicine a traveler carries in on their person falls under the Quota Table for Self-Use Medicine Carried by Inbound Travelers, jointly announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Finance. Both happen to cap the quantity at 12 bottles or 1,200 tablets, but the underlying article and the procedure are different -- when you cite the rule, state which scenario you mean, and do not apply the traveler rule directly to mailed shipments.
| Category | Quantity Cap | Scenario and Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Non-prescription drugs (OTC medicine) | 12 bottles, 12 tubes for tube-type products, or 1,200 tablets total per shipment; no repeat request within 6 months | Mailed for personal use: Regulations for Management of Drug Samples and Gifts, Article 6, Paragraph 2 |
| Prescription drugs | Limited to a reasonable amount under the prescription | Mailed for personal use: an import approval letter must be applied for in advance, with a diagnosis certificate and prescription attached |
| Chinese herbal medicine materials | Up to 1 kg per type, no more than 12 types in total | Quota Table for Self-Use Medicine Carried by Inbound Travelers (confirm applicability to mailed shipments first -- see note below) |
| Chinese herbal medicine preparations | Up to 12 bottles (boxes) per type, no more than 36 bottles (boxes) in total | Same as above |
⚠️ The quota for Chinese herbal medicine materials and preparations comes from an official document called the “Quota Table for Self-Use Medicine Carried by Inbound Travelers,” which on its face governs medicine travelers carry in on their person. Whether the same quota table applies to mailed shipments has no clear official statement that we could find -- before mailing Chinese herbal medicine, confirm with TFDA or the Customs Administration rather than assuming it applies.
Prescription Drugs Can Actually Be Mailed, But You Must Apply First
People often say that “prescription drugs are banned from mail order,” but that is an oversimplification. Under Ministry of Health and Welfare announcements, prescription drugs can be mailed for personal use, but you must apply for an import approval letter in advance, with quantity limited to a reasonable amount under the prescription.
- The key is the order: apply first, and mail it only after approval -- not mail it first and submit paperwork later.
- The application must include a diagnosis certificate and prescription issued by a domestic medical institution (Regulations for Management of Drug Samples and Gifts, Article 14).
- This route covers situations such as long-term medication for chronic conditions or cases where no domestically available product has the same ingredients; approval is determined by the central health authority.
TFDA’s official website has a section on importing self-use medicine for personal use where you can check the application procedure; this site does not handle drug import applications on your behalf, nor does it offer a medicine purchasing-agent service.
Why Melatonin Is Not a Supplement
The Department of Health (now the Ministry of Health and Welfare) announced on October 15, ROC year 85 that products labeled as containing melatonin must be regulated as drugs; anyone who imports, manufactures, or sells such products without approval is handled under the relevant provisions of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.
- In places such as the United States and Japan, melatonin is often sold as a dietary supplement, but the regulatory category depends on Taiwan’s own laws, not on where it was purchased.
- No melatonin product currently holds a drug license in Taiwan, which effectively means there is no lawfully sold melatonin product on the market.
- The exception: dried pineal gland powder from cattle, sheep, or pigs with a melatonin content of 20 ppm or less may be used as a food ingredient.
The same logic applies to other ingredients: something sold as a dietary supplement in its country of origin may be classified as a drug in Taiwan. Confirm the ingredient’s regulatory category in Taiwan before ordering -- do not infer it from how it is classified where you bought it.
How to Apply for an Import Approval Letter
To mail self-use medicine, you must apply to the central health authority for an import approval letter; Article 14 of the Regulations for Management of Drug Samples and Gifts lists the required documents.
- An international parcel collection notice or customs bill of lading addressed to the patient’s own name as the recipient.
- The medicine’s outer packaging and package insert.
- A signed statement declaring that the approved drug sample will never be sold, transferred, or used to treat any other patient.
- For prescription drugs, a diagnosis certificate and prescription issued by a domestic medical institution must also be attached.
Applications are limited to “patients who obtain a certificate from a medical institution and apply for self-use”; the application method and forms follow what TFDA publishes.
Nitrous Oxide and Products That Claim Medical Effects
Nitrous oxide has been listed as a concerned chemical substance under the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act, with controls centered on “four musts and two prohibitions”; gray-area products that claim therapeutic effects may also be classified as drugs.
- Approval required: operating with a concerned chemical substance requires an approval document from the competent authority (Article 25).
- Labeling required: containers and packaging must carry the warning “For industrial use only, inhalation prohibited” and a safety data sheet (Article 27).
- Reporting required: every transaction must be logged and reported monthly (Article 26).
- Online sales prohibited: it may not be sold by mail order, e-commerce, or any other method that cannot identify the parties to the transaction (Article 28).
- Unlicensed operation prohibited: manufacturing, importing, selling, using, or storing it without an approval document is not allowed.
Penalties: failing to obtain approval, failing to report, or failing to label carries a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 (Article 61); mail-order or e-commerce sellers that violate the rule face a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000, and penalties may be imposed per occurrence (Article 60). The competent authority is the Chemical Substances Bureau of the Ministry of Environment.
Products That Claim Medical Effects
Products marketed with claims of rapid weight loss, enhanced virility, fast-acting sleep aid, or similar “effects” may be classified in Taiwan as drugs rather than food -- and once that happens, they must follow the import rules for drugs; importing without approval makes them a banned drug. The rule of thumb is simple: the more a product emphasizes speed and therapeutic effect, the higher the risk -- check the full ingredient label before you buy.
Penalties: The Part Most Often Misquoted
A claim circulating online says that importing excess medicine for personal use carries a fine of up to NT$2 million -- this mixes up two entirely different kinds of penalties.
- The NT$2 million fine (administrative penalty) comes from Articles 92 and 92-1 (NT$30,000 to NT$2 million) and Article 96-1 (NT$100,000 to NT$2 million) of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Under these provisions, the party liable is the “business operator” -- the drug dealer, manufacturer, drug supervisor or production controller, or license holder -- not an individual who imports an excess quantity for personal use.
- Criminal liability: Article 22, Paragraph 1, Item 2 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act defines “medicine imported without approval” as a banned drug (with an exception for travelers or transport crew who bring in self-use medicine within the announced quota). Article 82 then provides that anyone who manufactures or imports a counterfeit or banned drug faces up to 10 years of imprisonment and may additionally be fined up to NT$100 million.
In other words, an individual who imports medicine without approval falls under criminal liability, not the business operator’s NT$2 million administrative fine. Mixing the two up is not just citing the wrong article -- it also leads readers to underestimate the actual risk.
In practice, customs commonly handles excess personal-use imports by requiring the goods to be shipped back or by seizing them; however, we found no explicit provision specifically addressing confiscation or destruction for excess personal-use imports, and actual handling is determined case by case by the competent authority.
Frequently Asked Questions
This article is compiled based on the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, the Regulations for Management of Drug Samples and Gifts, the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act, and announcements from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Chemical Substances Bureau of the Ministry of Environment, verified as of 2026-09-01. Laws and announcements may change; consult the competent authority for individual cases. This article does not constitute legal advice and cannot substitute for a case-by-case determination by the competent authority.
Lawful Consolidated Shipping, Checked in Advance
HowBridge provides consolidated shipping from China (via its Shenzhen consolidation warehouse) to Taiwan, with photos taken at intake so you can confirm the contents of an item before it ships; prohibited and restricted items are flagged in advance, declarations are filed by an AEO-certified partner customs broker, and EZWay real-name verification is supported. For items regulated as drugs, confirm that lawful import is possible before ordering.
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