The NCC commissioners’ terms expired at the end of July 2026, leaving the commission in a state of complete wipeout. Since the issuance of import permits and licenses for radio frequency equipment requires the committee’s signature and seal, no import permits can be signed or issued without an agency head or acting official. This rigidity in administrative operations has had a significant impact on the radio frequency equipment supply chain and the general public, with multiple incidents reported.
What are the current impacts of the NCC committee’s complete paralysis? Here’s a summary:
All NCC commissioners’ terms expired on July 31, 2026, leaving the commission in a state of total decimation. This has already resulted in import approval letters for personal-use radio frequency equipment (such as Bluetooth speakers and audio systems) being unable to be issued, leaving shipments stuck at customs. Many cable TV channel and program change applications have ground to a halt, and major violation penalties along with reviews of over 700 pending cases have been completely paralyzed. The predicament—where import permits and licenses for wireless RF equipment cannot be issued and no administrative measures remain to remedy the situation—is impacting the wireless RF equipment industry chain as well as the rights of ordinary consumers.
NCC states: NCC currently has no agency head or acting personnel, and can only accept cases but cannot issue approval certificates or approval letters. Applications for importing telecommunications-regulated radio frequency equipment will be affected as follows:
1. Unaffected:
A. Wireless telecommunications terminal equipment, personal locator radio beacons, maritime survivor locating devices, low-power radio frequency equipment, or amateur radio stations that are cleared through customs by the system’s automatic cross-check based on the certification certificate. (Article 13 of the Regulations for the Management of Manufacturing, Import, and Reporting of Telecommunications-Controlled Radio Frequency Equipment).
B. Mailing 2 units or fewer, or personally carrying 5 units or fewer for personal use, of wireless telecommunications terminal equipment (such as smartphones) and low-power RF devices (such as Bluetooth earphones, Bluetooth speakers, Wi-Fi TVs, Wi-Fi refrigerators, Wi-Fi watches, etc.).
2. Accepted but not issued:
A. Apply for an import approval certificate for Category 1 telecommunications-controlled radio frequency equipment.
B. Apply for a second-level telecommunications-controlled radio frequency equipment import approval certificate, which includes mailing 3 or more units of wireless telecommunications terminal equipment and low-power radio frequency devices for personal use.
C. Apply for approval documents for the telecommunications-regulated radio frequency equipment usage plan.
According to Legislator Lin Chun-hsien:「Last year, the NCC issued a total of 13,500 approval certificates and 190 official approval letters, with an average of over 1,000 applications per month. From July 31 to now, in just one week, 82 import approval certificates and 4 approval letters could not be issued.Currently, because the NCC is unable to issue approval certificates or approval letters, the known impacts are as follows:
1. A listed company was unable to obtain the “Telecommunications Controlled Radio Frequency Equipment Import Approval Permit,” causing its entire shipment to be stuck at customs and incurring substantial warehousing costs every day.
2. A member of the public mailed more than three Bluetooth earphones from abroad, but couldn’t get approval, and they’re stuck at customs.
3. A member of the public asked about the radio license exam. NCC replied that without commissioners, they cannot issue licenses. Even if you pass the exam, they can only issue a score report, which cannot serve as a credential.
As for the Apple iPhone 18 that everyone is concerned about, it had already completed type approval verification previously. Manufacturers can use the existing type certification data to pass customs clearance directly, so it won’t be affected for now. However, import submissions starting August 1st can only be accepted as applications at this point. If the staffing shortage continues, future phones may not be able to be imported for sale.
Although the Executive Yuan announced the NCC’s latest list of 7 commissioner nominees on July 24, 2026, including Yuan Hsiu-hui as chair and Hsiao Ping as vice chair, and has submitted the list to the Legislative Yuan for review with a vote scheduled for September 29 to address current vacancies and expiring terms, the opposition legislators’ demand is not about the candidates themselves but rather a call for CTi News to be reinstated and return to Channel 52. Considering the year-end local elections are approaching and public sentiment tends to support the continued blocking of NCC commissioners, there is a considerable chance that all newly nominated commissioners will be rejected. If the current legal restrictions cannot be remedied through legislative amendments, or at least one commissioner cannot be quickly approved to secureConsensus is that the crisis of being unable to issue import permits and licenses for wireless RF equipment is likely to keep worsening, severely impacting Taiwan’s wireless RF equipment industry chain.
According to news reports,The NCC has expressed to the Executive Yuan that, provided that “committee reserved matters” are not involved, for cases that currently cannot be approved—such as (1) mailing more than three units of second-level telecommunications-controlled radio frequency equipment, such as WiFi or Bluetooth terminal devices; and (2) cases that may be authorized to the unit head for final decision under the delegation of authority list—it requests the Executive Yuan to agree to have the unit head decide on its behalf in advance in accordance with the “Operating Guidelines for Authorizing Internal Units to Handle Matters.”An Executive Yuan official pointed out that the Executive Yuan will approve the matter by mid-August at the latest, ensuring that national operations will not be affected by the progress of the Legislative Yuan’s review of personnel appointments. In other words,Personal use items are stuck at customs. There’s a chance they’ll be processed in mid-August, but due to days of delay, even if released, there will be congestion.
Source: KOCPC Chinese