The changing regulatory environment has raised a number of issues for consideration.

At its January meeting, AmCham Taipei’s Board of Governors approved the formation of a new Chamber committee to cover the cosmetics sector. The stated goals of the new committee are to promote a positive and stable business environment to foster smooth operations for the cosmetics industry; support government initiatives in such areas as product safety, product innovation, and industry self-regulation; act as a communications platform for interaction with the government at both the central and municipal levels; and to provide members with a platform for sharing best practices and cooperating to address common issues and resolve challenges. Members of the committee will include cosmetics manufacturers and suppliers as well as such associated businesses as retailers and raw material suppliers.

Until now, the interests of the cosmetic-industry members of AmCham Taipei have been represented within the Chamber’s Retail Committee. But in recent years, issues impacting the cosmetics sector have become more numerous as the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has sought to enact a revised Statute for Control of Cosmetics Hygiene (usually referred to as the Cosmetics Act for short). A final draft of the legislation has been approved by the Executive Yuan and sent to the legislature for consideration, and the TFDA is now proceeding to prepare the enforcement regulations to implement the forthcoming new law.

“Under these circumstances, we felt the time had come for our cosmetics members to have their own independent committee to present their views,” explains AmCham President Andrea Wu.

The priority objectives of the new committee include:

• Closely follow the legislative process for the new Cosmetics Act and subsequent administrative orders to ensure that the provisions are reasonable and enhance both technological innovation and consumer protection.
• Promote regulatory harmonization with the United States and other major trade partners to forestall any regulatory technical barriers to trade.
• Strengthen communication and mutual trust between the industry and the authorities at both the central and local government levels.
• Seek the removal of outdated, unnecessary provisions, such as the premarket product registration of “medicated cosmetics,” that discourage the development of the trade.
• Encourage greater government transparency in adopting new laws and regulations affecting the cosmetics industry.
• Remind the authorities of the need for any restrictions on cosmetics products or ingredients to be based on scientific evidence and harmonized with the practice of trade partners.
• Oppose the adoption of unique-to-Taiwan regulations such as the proposed requirement for “corrective advertisements” in the case of advertising claims deemed to be false or exaggerated.
• Encourage the government to adopt the industry self-regulation model to minimize unnecessary regulatory restrictions and relieve burdens on the bureaucratic process.