Bought medicine in Japan and run out of suitcase space? Carrying it into Taiwan and mailing it there follow different import rules. Do not use a traveller’s allowance for a parcel.
I’m Irene, a Japan-licensed pharmacist from Taiwan working in a Japanese drugstore.
This guide explains the basic routes for personal-use Western medicines, not clearance for a specific product or advice to buy or take it. Checked 8 November 2026 (Taiwan time). Chinese medicines, foods, medical devices and veterinary products have separate rules.
Special crew and ingredient conditions: The traveller quantities here are for ordinary arriving travellers. Returning ship crew and aircraft service personnel without a physician’s prescription or supporting certificate may carry no more than half the personal-use medicine limits in the official table. Medicines containing protected-species ingredients require prior approval from Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture; staying within a quantity limit alone does not establish admissibility.
Choose the route first
- Accompanied travel: identify the medicine category and count original packages.
- Post or courier: ordinary medicines require TFDA approval before import, even in small quantities.
- Uncertain ingredients or category: ask TFDA or Customs before proceeding. Availability in a Japanese drugstore alone is not clearance.
Travellers: 12 per type, 36 in total
The non-prescription Western-medicine limit is up to 12 original packages per type and 36 altogether per traveller. Packages include bottles, boxes, cans, tubes and similar units. This is not a 36-tablet allowance. Personal use only; no resale.
Taipei Customs states that a medicine treated as prescription-only in Taiwan but non-prescription abroad uses the non-prescription quantity allowance when carried in. This is not an exemption for controlled drugs or a rule to transfer to parcels. Keep the packaging, ingredients and leaflet for classification enquiries.
Excess quantities of Western medicines require TFDA personal-import permission and declaration on arrival. Paying tax alone does not replace permission.
Parcels: approval first, different quantities
For non-prescription personal imports, the standard rule is no repeated application within six months. Each application’s non-prescription medicines must total no more than 12 packages/items in total, not 12 product types, and no more than 1,200 individual tablets/capsules or similar units. Both limits apply, not 12 items of each medicine. Special needs may justify authority-approved exceptions to the quantity limits. Do not assume this permits repeated applications within six months.
Two bottles containing 1,000 tablets each exceed the standard unit limit despite being only two packages. Retain product names, ingredients, specifications and leaflets for the application.
Prescription medicines and controlled drugs
- Ordinary prescription medicines carried by travellers: up to two months without a prescription or supporting document; with documentation, no more than its reasonable prescribed amount and six months. Injections require a physician’s prescription or supporting medical document.
- Prescription medicines sent by post: approval, diagnosis documentation and a prescription are required; quantities must fit the prescription. Do not apply the traveller’s undocumented two-month allowance.
- Controlled drugs must be for the traveller’s own medical treatment and accompanied by a prescription or certificate from a medical institution. The quantity must not exceed the documented amount or a six-month supply. They cannot be sent by post or courier.
Before packing
Confirm the route and classification, retain identifiable original packaging, and resolve unclear or excess quantities with the authority first. Taiwan import permission does not guarantee airline or carrier acceptance. Liquids, aerosols and flammable products need separate transport checks.
Also read why not to cut blister sheets into single pockets. Packaging-ingestion prevention and import compliance are different checks.
