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Chapter II CUSTOMS DECLARATION AND INSPECTION
Article 5
Inward passengers are not required to present a permit for such luggage or goods carried into the country pursuant to the range and limitations herein provided. Luggage and goods are subject to the customs inspection, duty levy, and release procedures, as herein provided.
Inward passengers carrying sample goods, machinery spare parts, raw materials, material and supplies, equipment, and tools, providing that value of such goods is under the limit herein provided, such goods shall be regarded as luggage and thus, no importation permit shall be required during the duty levy and customs clearance processing.
Where the luggage and goods provided in the foregoing two paragraphs are classified as a single personal luggage for personal use or compliant with the provisions of Article 52 of the Customs Act and allowed for importation, the value of which is not restricted in the related restrictions herein provided, and such luggage or goods may be imported without importation permit.
Where the luggage and goods provided in Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 are classified as goods subject to inspection, epidemic control items, or other importation restrictions, unless otherwise provided in other specific regulations, such goods shall be processed pursuant to the provisions of governing laws and regulations.
Article 6
Passengers having no permanent residence in ROC, such as foreign nationals and overseas Chinese, carrying dutiable goods for personal use into the country may apply for registration of goods for release in place of substitute duty performance bond or credit institution security submission. Dutiable goods duly registered, inspected and released should be re-exported out of the country under the same condition they were imported within six months after its entry or before the expiration of the authorized deadline extension period. Moreover, the passenger should process the pertinent cancellation procedure with the customs before deadline; otherwise, after deadline has elapsed, the customs shall issue a post-import customs duty levy notice and terminate duty-payer's registration rights for the particular item.
Article 7
Where the items and quantities of goods contained in the luggage of an inward passenger during his/her entry into the country are compliant with the duty-free provisions of Article 11 and passenger has no other matters to declare, the ROC customs declaration form requirement for inward passenger shall be waived. Passenger may pass through customs through the green line counter.
Inward passengers carrying controlled or restricted luggage or goods into the country under one of the following circumstances, are obliged to declare such items in the ROC customs declaration form and submit the form through the red line counter for customs inspection and clearance:
1. Carrying cigarettes, liquor and other luggage or goods in excess of the duty-free allowance provided in Article 11.
2. Carrying cash in foreign currency or currencies issued by Hong Kong or Macau in an aggregate amount exceeding Ten Thousand US Dollars (USD10,000) equivalent.
3. Carrying negotiable securities with face value in excess of Ten Thousand US Dollars (USD10,000) or its equivalent.
4. Carrying cash in an aggregate amount exceeding One Hundred Thousand NT Dollars (NTD100,000).
5. Carrying gold in an aggregate value exceeding Twenty Thousand US Dollars (USD20,000) or more.
6. Carrying cash in an aggregate amount exceeding Twenty Thousand Renminbi (RMB20,000) or more; moreover, inward passengers should voluntarily seal and deposit all amounts in excess of RMB20,000 with the customs for temporary custody until the exit departure time of passenger.
7. Carrying aquatic products, animal or plant products.
8. Having unaccompanied luggage coming into the country.
9. Carrying articles in an aggregate value exceeding Five Hundred Thousand NT Dollars (NTD500,000) and might be used for the purpose of money laundering
10. Other matters non-compliant with the duty-free regulations or requiring customs declaration or where inspection before clearance is required by law.
Where the articles which may be used for money laundering referred to in the ninth subparagraph of the preceding paragraph are diamonds, precious stones and platinums not for personal use.
Where inward passengers are in doubt whether their luggage or goods whether or not qualified for the green line clearance, passengers should clear luggage at the red line counter.
The customs is entitled to inspect passengers’ luggage passing through the green line counter or through other customs formalities approved by the Customs in accordance with Article 3 at any time customs deems it necessary. In the event that an inward passenger going through the green line counter fails to voluntarily declare goods or inquire about the necessity of such declaration with the customs officer and, upon determination of such necessity, voluntarily fill out the pertinent customs declaration form; thereafter where the green line counter customs officer should find it necessary to inspect the passenger's luggage or goods, at such point, the customs shall no longer entertain any customs declaration form from passenger. For passengers who pass through the red line counter, the customs shall not accept any form of correction after accepting the declaration and beginning the inspection procedure. Thereafter, should the customs find the passenger luggage to contain dutiable, control or restricted goods, or find that passenger violated the customs declaration regulations or evaded inspection, the customs shall process case pursuant to the customs anti-smuggling regulations and other related laws.
Article 8
Where the inward passenger required to present an ROC customs declaration form to the customs is accompanied by family members, customs declaration of the combined luggage or goods of the family may be declared under one person only; in the event that passenger also has unaccompanied luggage, passenger is obliged to declare the quantity and principal contents of such luggage in the ROC customs declaration form presented during passenger's entry into the county.
The unaccompanied luggage or cargo of inward passengers should be imported into the country before entry or within six months from the day of entry. Moreover, passenger should process customs declaration of such luggage or goods after entry, within 15 days from the day following the arrival date of the vessel carrying the unaccompanied luggage. Late customs declaration shall be processed pursuant to the provisions of Article 73 of the Customs Act.
Upon the importation of the aforementioned unaccompanied luggage or cargo, the passenger should either personally or authorize an attorney or customs broker to process import declaration matters with the customs. The declaration form should clearly state the name, quantities and value of the luggage contents or goods, as well as state the following items:
1. The date of entry.
2. Passport number, visa number or Alien Resident Certificate number of the passenger.
3. The passenger's address in the country.
Where passenger fails to import the aforementioned luggage or goods within the prescribed deadline, where passenger fails to declare such luggage in the ROC customs declaration form presented at the time of entry, or where passenger processes customs declaration of such luggage or goods before entry, the customs clearance procedure for regular import cargoes shall be applied to such luggage. The related duty exemption and certification exemption provisions herein provided shall no longer apply. However, where passenger presents valid reasons for such failure and obtained customs approval for such reasons, this restriction shall not apply.
Article 9
Inward passengers carrying cargo other than luggage or goods for home and personal use and importing such cargo under the name of a manufacturing establishment, are required to process customs declaration matters through the import declaration form provided in Article 17 of the Customs Act.
Inward passengers are required to pre-declare luggage before entry if luggage carried contains valuable goods or bonded goods, such as sample goods, machinery spare parts, equipment, raw materials, tools, material and supplies for bonded factories, business establishments in technology industrial parks, science parks, and agricultural technology parks.
Article 10
The personal luggage or goods accompanying passengers should be inspected at the harbor or airport station where the passenger is entering the country. In the event that the luggage cannot be inspected and released on site, the passenger is obliged to declare such items in the ROC customs declaration form. Thereafter, Customs should seal said luggage and put it in the customs warehouse or the bonded warehouse which is located within the control area of an international airport terminal and exclusively made for storage of passengers' luggage for temporary storage until such time as the passenger personally or through an authorized representative, presents the customs receipt or the bonded warehouse operator receipt and passport, visa, or Alien Resident Certificate of the passenger, and after the passenger pays the pertinent duties and processes customs clearance or processes the withdrawal and return of such luggage.
In the event that the aforementioned customs clearance or luggage withdrawal and return procedure is processed through an authorized representative, the representative is obliged to present his/her personal identification papers and the passenger's power of attorney document.
Where the luggage and goods provided in Paragraph 1 are classified as goods subject to the provisions of Paragraph 1, Article 12 of the Money Laundering Control Act, the inward passenger or outward passenger should fill out the “Report of Inward/Outward Passengers or Crew Members Carrying Money Laundering Controlled Items” based on Paragraph 1, Article 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Cross-border Declaration and Reporting, or make declarations through the Customs online processing system, and present it to Customs for approval, and the passenger personally processes the withdrawal and return of such luggage.