Association History

The predecessor of this association was initiated by Ms. Chow Wen-chi of Ming Sing Chemical Co., Ltd. and other cosmetic manufacturers, this Association was initially known as "Taipei Daily Chemical Toileteries Industry Association" officially registered with Taipei Municipal Government as an association in May 1953. After the "Industrial Organization Act" was put into enforcement later on, it expanded its business range to cover all chemical plants throughout Taiwan. As a result, it was accredited by the Ministry of the Interior as the "Taiwan Daily Chemical Toileteries Industry Association" in May 1975, chaired by Ms. Chow Wen-chi as the first chairman. At that time, cosmetics were classified as "luxuries" and subject to commodity tax at 100%, 80% and 20%; and tariffs even as high as 165%. Ms. Chow Wen-chi tried hard to appeal to the government to not classify cosmetics as "luxuries". Through industrious coordination with the government, cosmetics were classified as "daily chemical Toileteries" as the name for the Association.

The efforts to appeal to the government mere to have the cosmetic tax rates rationalized to reduce burden upon consumers. Ms. Chow Wen-chi led the cosmetic manufacturers to associate with Congressmen and public representatives so as to have their voices heard by the government. As a result of such hard efforts for years, the commodity tax on cosmetics was officially suspended in January 1990 when the Association was chaired by Mr. Li Chin- chih (former chairman of Taiwan Shiseido Co., Ltd.) as the 5th session of the board of directors. That was widely believed a sound and justified policy.

In line with the business needs, the Association was rechristened "Taiwan Cosmetics & Toileteries Industry Association" as officially promulgated by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economic Affairs on July 29, 1992. In the 2nd Members' Meeting of Session IX held on November 15, 2000, it was resolved that the wording "Toileteries" be deleted because the Association had its business activities significantly expanded. Teaming up with the local county (city) associations, the Association has reflected the grassroots level voices to the government, tried hard to serve members and enhance interchanges among the member plants.

The Association was officially approved by the Ministry of the Interior to be renamed as the present name, "Taiwan Cosmetics Industry Association", on January 19, 2001. In response to the establishment of the five special municipalities, the association was approved by the Ministry of the Interior on December 23, 2010, and the name was changed to the “Taiwan Cosmetics Industry Association” from January 5, 2011, to the present.