On September 22, 2026, Taiwan, China's Ministry of Labor (MOL) promulgated the Technical Guidance on Withholding Confidential Business Information (CBI) on Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) (2026 version) via Notice No. 1150253498A. In Taiwan, China's SDS regime, "information withholding" is precisely the mechanism for protecting confidential business information (CBI): manufacturers, importers, or suppliers may apply to withhold CBI on safety data sheets (SDSs), such as the names of hazardous chemical ingredients, CAS numbers, and concentrations. The new guidance specifies the approval process for CBI applications, the labeling of chemicals and the SDS disclosure methods after approval, and the online application procedure, and took effect on its date of promulgation; the previous notice issued on November 17, 2022 (Notice No. 1110205986) ceased to apply on the same day. From now on, chemical companies intending to submit SDS CBI applications for the Taiwan, China market must follow the new guidance and file through the designated application tool and online platform.
Background and Legal Basis
Article 18 of the Regulations for the Labeling and Hazard Communication of Hazardous Chemicals of Taiwan, China provides that where a manufacturer, importer, or supplier, to protect national security or the trade secrets of a product, intends to apply for CBI withholding of the names of hazardous chemical ingredients on an SDS, their Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers, their concentrations, or the name of the manufacturer, importer, or supplier, it shall apply to the central competent authority (i.e., the MOL) for approval, attaching four types of documents: proof that the information qualifies as a national security or product trade secret; the countermeasures adopted to protect such secrets; an assessment of the economic interests of the applicant and its competitors; and the hazard classification statement and supporting evidence for the hazardous chemical ingredients in the product.
Paragraph 2 of Article 18-1 of the Regulations authorizes the central competent authority to formulate technical guidance on the scope of CBI applications and on the labeling of chemicals and the SDS withholding/disclosure methods after approval. The new guidance is formulated pursuant to Articles 18 and 18-1, and the relevant legal liabilities remain governed by Article 10 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of Taiwan, China, and by the Regulations. This is the third notice issued by the MOL on the matter: the application methods were first announced on August 30, 2016; the 2022 version of the technical guidance was issued on November 17, 2022; and the current 2026 version replaces the 2022 version with immediate effect. The designated website for filing CBI applications is the GHS Chinese introduction website of Taiwan's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (https://ghs.osha.gov.tw/).
Three Circumstances in Which CBI Withholding Cannot Be Applied For
The guidance reiterates the provisions of Article 18-1 of the Regulations: CBI withholding may not be applied for where a hazardous chemical ingredient falls under any of the following circumstances:
- It is a chemical substance listed in the Standards of Permissible Exposure Limits at Job Site of Taiwan, China;
- It falls under the following categories of the Taiwan standard CNS 15030: acute toxicity Category 1 to Category 3; skin corrosion/irritation Category 1; serious eye damage/eye irritation Category 1; respiratory or skin sensitization; germ cell mutagenicity; carcinogenicity; reproductive toxicity; specific target organ toxicity (single exposure Category 1 and repeated exposure Category 1); and aspiration hazard Category 1;
- It is otherwise designated and announced by the MOL.
In addition, where an approved applicant is found upon inspection to have submitted falsified information or to have failed to act in accordance with the approved matters, the MOL may revoke or rescind the approval.
Application and Approval Process
Under the new guidance, applications are processed in three steps:
- Log in to the GHS website and download the SDS Information Withholding Application Tool (SDS資訊保留揭示申請工具);
- Use the tool to complete the information required under Articles 18 and 18-1 of the Regulations for the Labeling and Hazard Communication of Hazardous Chemicals;
- Upload the file exported by the application tool, together with the relevant documents, to the GHS website, and obtain the application receipt number.
The MOL will notify the applicant by letter whether the application is approved, depending on whether the application materials explain or prove compliance with the above provisions. Where documents are incomplete, the applicant shall make corrections within 30 days of receiving the correction notice; corrections are limited to two attempts, and applications overdue for correction will not be accepted.
Application materials must be completed in Chinese on three forms: basic information (Form 1), national security or product trade secret supporting information (Form 2), and hazard classification statement and supporting information for the hazardous chemical ingredients (Form 3). Where only the name of the manufacturer, importer, or supplier is applied to be withheld, the ingredient-related information in Form 1 and Form 3 may be omitted. For chemicals with different names whose ingredients subject to withholding and trade secret supporting materials are identical, the same set of forms may be shared, with the chemical names listed side by side, separated by enumeration commas, in Form 1.
As for hazard classification evidence, the applicant shall, based on CNS 15030 or the GHS Purple Book, use test data reports, scientific literature, or structure-activity relationship estimations to explain and prove that the ingredients concerned do not fall under the hazard categories listed above that are ineligible for CBI withholding. Where animal test data are cited, the test method, the number of animals, and brief relevant results must be described; where scientific literature or an estimation report is used as evidence, the referenced sources or the estimation report must additionally be provided, and documents in foreign languages must be accompanied by a summary in Chinese.
Where all uses of the chemical concerned fall under scientific research and development purposes or product and process research and development purposes, the applicant may instead complete a declaration of scientific research use, and the review period will be shortened (in principle, to two weeks).
Online Application Method
Applicants must file through the SDS Information Withholding Application Platform (SDS保留揭示申請平台) on the GHS website. To protect corporate information and support online withdrawal of applications, applicants must first log in with the MOL's single account for business entities (事業單位單一帳號, Taiwan's unified login account system for enterprises) and then select "New Application" under "New Application/Correction/Withdrawal". The online upload involves four steps: filling in the applicant and contact person information; uploading the file exported by the application tool; uploading the declaration documents and the power of attorney (the power of attorney may be omitted where no agent is entrusted); and obtaining the receipt number. The receipt number serves both as proof of completed upload (the system also sends it to the applicant's email address) and as the reference for checking the approval progress on the platform.
The new application tool has been revised to SDS V4.0; the recommended environment is Windows 10 or a later operating system, Edge 106 or later or Chrome 107 or later, and Java 1.6 or later. Subsequent corrections, withdrawals, changes, revocations, and rescissions are handled directly on the platform, and changes, revocations, and rescissions do not require re-downloading the tool.
Post-approval Labeling and SDS Disclosure
After approval, companies may disclose the hazardous ingredients concerned in the ingredient identification section of the SDS using the approved generic names in both Chinese and English, together with the approved number (replacing the ingredient's CAS number); on container labels, the hazardous ingredients may be disclosed using the approved generic names. Taking an application covering all four types of items as an example: on the chemical label, the hazardous ingredient field shows the approved Chinese generic name and the manufacturer, importer, or supplier name field is marked "withheld", while hazard pictograms, signal words, address, telephone, and the other items remain governed by the Regulations for the Labeling and Hazard Communication of Hazardous Chemicals; on the SDS, the ingredients are disclosed using the approved Chinese and English generic names, the CAS number is replaced by the approved number, and the synonyms and the ingredient percentage are marked "withheld". Items for which CBI withholding has not been applied for must still be disclosed in accordance with the law based on the actual situation of the chemical, supplemented where necessary by a foreign language understandable to the workers involved.
For new chemical substances whose manufacturer or importer has already obtained confidentiality approval from Taiwan's central environmental protection authority, no separate CBI application is required before the substance is included in the gazetted chemical substances inventory and before the confidentiality period expires: the approved registered generic names in Chinese and English may be used directly in the SDS in place of the ingredient names in Chinese and English, together with the approved new chemical substance registration number (replacing the CAS number), and the approved generic names may likewise be used on container labels.
Post-approval Changes and Management
After approval, changes to the chemical name (modification, addition, or removal), to the contact person or agent information, or to the ingredient concentration percentage ranges require only a change application form; changes to the applicant information or to the hazardous chemical ingredient information, however, require the original approval to be revoked or rescinded and a new application to be filed. Where a chemical name changes and the national security or product trade secret evidence, the protective countermeasures, or the economic benefit assessment differs from the content of the original approval, a new CBI application rather than a change must likewise be filed.
For approved cases, if the applicant later discovers any scientific evidence proving that an ingredient originally applied for withholding falls into a category ineligible for CBI withholding, it shall notify the MOL; where such a circumstance is confirmed, or where falsified information or failure to act in accordance with the approved matters is found upon inspection, the MOL may revoke or rescind the original approval.
ChemRadar Insights
For export enterprises intending to submit SDS CBI applications for the Taiwan, China market, and for technical service providers authoring SDSs for that market, the following points warrant attention:
- Where the applicant is an overseas company or organization, a local Taiwan enterprise or organization must be entrusted to file the application on its behalf, with the power of attorney attached; the contact person must be a natural person located in Taiwan, China, responsible for communicating with the reviewing authority and receiving correction notices.
- All applications must be accompanied by declaration documents, and the applicant (or its agent) bears responsibility under the Occupational Safety and Health Act for the authenticity of the materials; it is advisable to check the trade secret evidence and the hazard classification evidence item by item before submission.
- The correction period is 30 days, with a maximum of two corrections; the MOL may notify the contact person through system messages or the ghs@osha.gov.tw mailbox. Companies are advised to keep the account and mailbox accessible to avoid having the application rejected due to overdue corrections.
- Without approval, companies must not withhold on their own the information required by law to be disclosed on SDSs; downstream companies receiving SDSs marked with generic names and numbers may verify the approval number or the new chemical substance registration number noted on the SDS to confirm that the upstream company's withholding application has been approved.
CIRS Services
For SDSs compliant with the regulatory requirements of Taiwan, China, or for filing SDS CBI withholding applications, CIRS Group provides the following professional services to help enterprises smoothly access the Taiwan market. Interested companies are welcome to contact us:
- SDS hazardous chemical ingredient CBI withholding applications for Taiwan, China
- SDS and label authoring for Taiwan, China
