November 2022
Sally Yang
As online retail shopping in Taiwan has been continuously growing prosperously in recent years, since plastic or paper packaging materials used for online shopping consume natural resources and generate large amounts of carbon emissions, the Environmental Protection Administration (hereinafter, the “EPA”) pre-announced the draft Parties Subject to and Means for the Online Shopping Packaging Restrictions (hereinafter, the “Draft”) via the Huan-Shu-Ji-1111103042 Circular of September 28, 2022 with the authorization under Article 21 of the Waste Disposal Act and Article 13, Paragraph 2 of the Resource Recycling Act in order to reduce the burden on the environment and strengthen the administration of online shopping packaging. In addition, public comments are solicited for 60 days after the date of announcement until November 28, 2022. If adopted and officially announced, the Draft will go into effect on July 1, 2023.
The Draft is highlighted below:
1. Parties subject to the restrictions: The Internet retail industry refers to the industry of retailing goods through the Internet, where goods information is provided via a website with goods delivered to the consumers after orders are placed on the Internet. However, they do not include Internet retail service platforms (Paragraph 2).
2. Restrictions on online shopping packaging materials are imposed. For example, articles containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material shall not be used, and priority should be given to the original color of the material used for paper packages, and the mixture ratio of recycled paper should be more than 90 percent (Paragraph 3).
3. For the total capital, paid-in capital, or domestic working capital of a party subject to the restrictions that reaches NT$150 million or more or a certain scale designated by the central competent authority, not only should the weight reduction ratio of packaging materials or the use ratio of recycled boxes (bags) be followed (Paragraph 6) but also the volume reduction results should be reported every year. Documents that record the sources and certificates of online shopping packaging materials shall be retained for at least five years, and the results should include specific information and be certified by a certified public accountant (Paragraph 7).
4. Penalties:
(1) Any person who violates the prohibition on the use of articles containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material as stipulated in Paragraph 3 of the Draft shall be fined NT$1,200 to NT$6,000 in accordance with Article 51, Paragraph 3[1] of the Waste Disposal Act. If rectification required within a stated period is not made within the period, the penalty shall be imposed continuously on a daily basis (Paragraph 8).
(2) Violation of other provisions of this Draft (such as package weight reduction requirements, reporting on annual reduction results, etc.) shall be punished by a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$150,000, along with a notice demanding rectification or improvements within a stated period, in accordance with Article 26, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2[2] of the Resource Recycling Act, and a fine may be continuously imposed on a daily basis. In case of a serious violation, the violator may be penalized with a shutdown or suspension for one month to one year. If necessary, the violator may be penalized with a closedown (Paragraph 9).
[1] Under Article 51, Paragraph 1 of the Waste Disposal Act, violations of central competent authority restrictions on sales and use in Article 21 shall be punished with a fine of NT$1,200 to NT$6,000. If the violation continues after the end of the designated time period in the notice demanding rectification, then continuous daily fines shall be imposed.
[2] Under Article 26, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the Resource Recycling Act, the competent authority or industry competent authority may impose a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$50,000 on those to whom any one of the following situations applies. Those notified to make corrections or improvements within a limited time period that have still failed to make corrections or complete improvements by the deadline shall be issued consecutive daily fines. Serious violators may be ordered to suspend work for one month to one year, or suspend business. When necessary, violators may be ordered to terminate business: …(2) Failure to comply with specifications or use restrictions or prohibitions concerning the goods, packaging, containers, and materials thereof specified by the central competent authority pursuant to Article 13.
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