Medical Products Marketing in Taiwan
Taiwan's total medical equipment market is valued at $780 million. U.S. exports of medical equipment in 2001 were nearly $250 million. Due to limited domestic production, most advanced medical equipment is imported to Taiwan including sophisticated lab equipment for life sciences research. Public and private investment into biotechnology reached $700 million in 2000. Taiwan recently harmonized its domestic medical device classification with the commonly used international classification system. The Taiwanese government has also tightened quality control requirements having instituted Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements in 1999. In 2000, the Government also tightened its pre-market approval process for domestic and foreign manufacturers. Taiwan's Department of Health reclassified medical devices into 16 categories - clinical chemistry and clinical toxicology devices; hematology and pathology devices; immunology and microbiology devices; anesthesiology devices; cardiovascular devices; dental devices; ear, nose and throat devices; gastroenterology-urology devices; general and plastic surgery devices; general hospital and personal use devices; neurological devices; OB/GYN devices; ophthalmic devices; orthopedic devices; physical medicine devices; and radiology devices.
The Taiwan government is scheduled to institute a multi-functional healthcare IC card in 2002. All insured citizens will be issued an IC card which will include all pertinent contact and healthcare information. There are currently 21 million covered lives in Taiwan.
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