Sunscreen labels no longer show filter percentages? What changed in Taiwan
On Taiwan's PTT forum (BeautySalon board), someone noticed in a drugstore that the new version of Mentholatum's ACNES sunscreen primer lists its UV filters but not their concentrations, and newer batches of Biore sunscreen do the same, with everything in one ingredient list. The poster used to check percentages to see which active filters were in a product, and asked whether the rules had changed so that sunscreens no longer need to show them.
Nearly fifty replies came in. The main points:
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One reply explained that since July the previous year, sunscreens, which used to be "specific-purpose cosmetics", are regulated as ordinary cosmetics, so the concentration is no longer required.
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Most people were frustrated or even angry, feeling they had lost a clue for judging protection.
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Someone pointed out an upside: buying sunscreen from overseas sites no longer requires applying to the Taiwan FDA for personal import of a "medicated cosmetic".
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One person argued concentration never told you the whole story, citing zinc-heavy diaper cream; others shot back that concentration still matters and a good sunscreen combines good filters, enough of them and a nice texture.
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Another noted that European sunscreens never listed percentages, and asked where in Taiwan anyone still analyses sunscreen formulas seriously.
The mood was mostly unhappy, though a few felt aligning with international practice was inevitable.
Desk note: According to Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration, from 1 July 2024 Taiwan stopped distinguishing between general and specific-purpose cosmetics: sunscreens, hair dyes and similar products are all simply "cosmetics", managed through product registration, a product information file (PIF) and a safety-assessor sign-off system, and consumers can search registrations on the TFDA platform. The announcement does not cover how ingredient percentages must be labelled, so check exact rules with the TFDA or the brand.
Without percentages on the label, what do you look at first when choosing a sunscreen?
Original thread: PTT BeautySalon board — do sunscreens no longer list filter concentrations? · Source: Taiwan FDA
For comparison: in the US, sunscreens are regulated by the FDA as nonprescription (OTC) drugs and carry a Drug Facts label that lists the active ingredients, the filters that do the UV protecting. Taiwan has now gone the cosmetic route, like the EU, relying on product registration and product information files. The systems follow different logic, so a different label format on an imported tube does not by itself mean one is safer. FDA