Standards for 'Same Company, Same Product' Recognition Regarding Hygiene Product Imports Released

According to the 'Sanitary Products Control Act', the criteria for recognizing identical imported sanitary products from the same company are as follows.

 

● Detergents & Rinse Aids: those with the same product name, country of manufacture, overseas manufacturer, raw material name, and mixing ratio

 

● Wet wipes packaged for use in food service establishments for hand wiping, etc.: those with the same product name, country of manufacture, overseas manufacturer, and raw material name

 

● Disposable cups, spoons, chopsticks, forks, knives, straws: those with the same country of manufacture, overseas manufacturer, material, and color (limited to surfaces in direct contact with food)

 

● Disposable toothpicks: those with the same country of manufacture, overseas manufacturer, material, and color (limited to surfaces in direct contact with the human body)

 

● Toilet paper, disposable dishcloths, towels, paper napkins, cotton swabs, diapers, panty liners, and dry tissues packaged for use in hand wiping, etc., which are used by adding water at the final stage: those with the same country of manufacture, overseas manufacturer, and raw material name, and subject to the same inspection items specified in the standards and specifications under Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the 'Sanitary Products Control Act'

 

 

If these criteria are met, the importer of the relevant product can obtain import approval for the sanitary product through document inspection alone.

In the case of detergents such as cleaners and rinse aids, it can be seen that things like the material or color of the packaging container are not included in the criteria items. 

In other words, even if the packaging of these products is different, as long as the raw material name and mixing ratio are the same, they can be recognized as identical products from the same company, meaning that import approval for sanitary products is possible through document inspection alone.

 

Overall, sanitary products have the same approval structure as imported food, but it can be seen that the detailed criteria are much more relaxed than for imported food.