The Department of Customs Administration (DCA), Ministry of Finance has announced that baggage checked directly to mainland China through airports in Kinmen and Matsu will be exempt from customs seal fees, lightening the cost burden on operators and making it easier for people to travel across the Taiwan Strait.

The DCAdministration points out that the government is implementing the direct checking of baggage on the “Mini Three Links” in order to relieve congestion by travelers clearing customs at harbors in Kinmen and Matsu. Now, travelers from Taiwan who fly to Kinmen or Matsu and then take a ship to Mainland China will be able to check their baggage directly to the mainland, without having to retrieve it and clear it through customs before boarding a boat on one of the small islands. And, to alleviate the cost burden on travel operators who have to pay for a bonded truck to transport the baggage from airport to harbor, and avoid their passing the added cost on to their customers, Article 5 of the Rules Governing the Collection of Customs Fees has been amended to exempt them from paying customs seal fees for the trucks.