Parcel Held at Taiwan Customs: Seven Causes and Fixes

A parcel that stops moving is costing storage from that moment on, so the first job is not fixing it but identifying which of two groups it falls into. Some causes are yours to resolve in an afternoon; others cannot be resolved at all, and the only sensible response is to stop paying storage on a shipment that will never be released.

Last updated:2026-08

First work out which group it is in

Stalled parcels fall into two groups: the ones you can resolve, and the ones you cannot. Telling them apart first is what stops you paying storage on a shipment that was never going to be released.

Cause	Resolvable	Action
Real-name authentication incomplete	Yes	Complete confirmation in EZ WAY
Declared value questioned	Yes	Supply transaction and payment documents
Permit or inspection missing	Sometimes	Documentary evidence often yes; prior approvals no
Restricted or prohibited goods	No	Return or disposal by Customs
Intellectual property concerns	No	Handled under Customs procedure
Failed quarantine	No	Return or destruction
Late declaration	Yes, at a cost	Declare promptly; late fees may apply

One: authentication incomplete

This is the most common cause and the fastest to fix. Courier parcels cannot clear without real-name authentication through the EZ WAY (易利委) app operated by the Customs Administration.

Two recurring failure points: push notifications switched off so the confirmation request was missed, or being abroad and unable to receive the SMS verification code for a Taiwanese mobile number during registration.

Register and verify before you order rather than after the parcel ships. Once those two steps are done, the per-shipment confirmation works from anywhere the app can receive a notification.

Two: declared value questioned

Customs does not simply accept the declared figure. When it falls materially below comparable imports, they will ask for support.

What to provide:

• The order or contract showing the agreed price
• The commercial invoice, matching that price
• Proof of payment — remittance advice or card statement — matching the invoice

Consistency across all three is what carries weight. An invoice for NT$300 against a card charge of NT$3,000 is difficult to defend regardless of the explanation.

See How customs value is calculated for what belongs in the value in the first place.

Three: permit or inspection missing

The distinction that matters:

Often supplied later — documentary evidence such as a certificate of origin or an ingredient statement.

Generally not — approvals that are required to exist before import. Commodity inspection and radio equipment type approval are the common examples. Discovering the requirement after the goods have landed usually means return.

This is why checking requirements before ordering matters more than any recovery procedure.

Four: restricted or prohibited goods

No remedy exists for this group. The options are return or disposal by Customs, and return freight is normally borne by the consignee.

Fresh produce, live plants, meat and dairy are the categories personal shoppers hit most often, and they also cannot travel by express courier at all.

Five: intellectual property concerns

Goods suspected of infringing a registered right are detained and handled under the relevant Customs procedure, which involves the rights holder. This is not something the consignee resolves directly.

Six: failed quarantine

Animal and plant quarantine failures end in return or destruction. As with restricted goods, the outcome is not negotiable.

Seven: late declaration

Goods left undeclared past the statutory period attract late fees, and eventually the goods may be dealt with by Customs. This is resolvable but the cost grows with delay — the correct response is to declare immediately rather than wait for clarity on some other question.

The economics of giving up

Storage accrues daily. For a low-value consignment, the combination of accumulated storage plus return freight can exceed the value of the goods within a couple of weeks.

Deciding early is worth more than being right. If the cause is in the unresolvable group, the cheapest action is usually to stop and accept the loss rather than pay storage while pursuing a remedy that does not exist.

How long you have

Time limits apply, and they run whether or not you are aware of the problem.

Goods must be declared within the statutory period after arrival. Beyond it, late fees accrue, and goods left undeclared for long enough may be dealt with by Customs rather than returned to you.

Storage runs in parallel and is usually the larger number. For a consignment worth a few thousand New Taiwan dollars, accumulated storage can approach the value of the goods within a few weeks.

The practical implication is that speed matters more than certainty. Declaring promptly and resolving a valuation question afterwards costs less than waiting until the position is clear before declaring at all.

What to send when Customs asks for documents

Requests are usually for one of three things, and the response that resolves them fastest is the same in each case: send the complete set rather than the single document named.

Request	Send
Proof of value	Order, invoice and payment record together
Proof of contents	Product page, specification and photographs
Proof of origin	Certificate of origin, or manufacturer declaration

Sending one document at a time extends the process by a round trip each time. A complete set answers the follow-up questions before they are asked, and every additional round trip is more storage.

Keep the set from the moment of purchase rather than assembling it under time pressure — order confirmations and payment records are considerably harder to retrieve weeks later.

Further reading

For the full rules on buying from abroad, see Shopping overseas and importing to Taiwan. For the tax that will be due once the parcel does clear, see the Taiwan import tax guide and the import duty calculator.

Primary sources: Customs Act (關稅法) and the Customs Administration express consignment section (財政部關務署快遞貨物專區).

Frequently asked questions

Why is my parcel stuck at Taiwan Customs?

The most common cause by a wide margin is incomplete real-name authentication in the EZ WAY app. Others are a declared value Customs has questioned, missing import permits or inspection certificates, restricted or prohibited goods, intellectual property concerns, failed quarantine, and late declaration.

How do I fix an authentication problem?

Open the EZ WAY app and complete the declaration confirmation for that shipment. If you never registered, register and complete identity verification first. Push notifications are easy to miss, so check the app directly rather than waiting for a prompt.

Customs questioned my declared value — what do they want?

Transaction documents that corroborate the declared figure: the order or contract, the commercial invoice, and proof of payment such as a remittance advice or card statement. Consistency across all three is what carries weight.

Can I supply a missing permit after the goods arrive?

Sometimes. Documentary evidence such as a certificate of origin or an ingredient list can often be supplied later. Approvals that must exist before import — commodity inspection and type approval among them — generally cannot, and the goods have to be returned.

Who pays to return a rejected shipment?

The consignee, in most cases. Return freight on a low-value consignment frequently exceeds the value of the goods, which is why abandoning the shipment is sometimes the cheaper decision.