Announcement on Updating Product Embargo List against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Accordance with UN Security Council 2371 Resolution (Joint Announcement No. 40 [2017] of MOC and GAC)
In accordance with the Foreign Trade Law of the People’s Republic of China, a joint announcement was released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and General Administration of Customs (GAC) on August
15
th
, 2017 to carry out the UN Security Council 2371 Resolution. According to the announcement, full import bans are to be imposed on coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as of the effective date of the announcement.
Announcement on Releasing Imported Waste Management Directory (2017) (Joint Announcement No. 39 [2017] of MEP, MOC, NDRC, GAC and GAQSIQ)
The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Ministry of Commerce (MOC), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), General Administration of Customs (GAC) and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) have jointly made the following adjustments and revisions to the current Solid Waste Import Ban Directory, Directory of Import-Restricted Solid Waste Which Can Be Used as Raw Materials, and Directory of Import-Unrestricted Solid Waste Which Can Be Used as Raw Materials: the 24 kinds of solid wastes falling into the following four categories, i.e. wasted plastics in daily life, unsorted wasted paper, wasted textile raw materials and vanadium slag, are to be removed from the Directory of Import-Restricted Solid Waste Which Can Be Used as Raw Materials, and transferred to the Solid Waste Import Ban Directory. The announcement shall come into force as of Dec 31st, 2017 while the Joint Announcement No. 80 [2014] of the MEP, MOC, NDRC, GAC and GAQSIQ and Joint Announcement No. 3 [2017] of the MEP, MOC, NDRC, GAC and GAQSIQ shall be repealed on the same date.
Interim Measures of the People’s Republic of China for Managing Customs
Supervision Zones (GAC Decree No. 232)
The Interim Measures of the People’s Republic of China for Managing Customs Supervision Zones was released on August
8
th
, 2017 by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) and shall become effective as of Nov.
1
st
, 2017. The Measures of the People’s Republic of China for Managing Places under Customs Supervision (GAC Decree No. 171) released on Jan
30
th
, 2008 and the sixth section of Decision of the GAC on Revising Partial Regulations (GAC Announcement No. 227) released on April
27
th
, 2015 shall be repealed on the same date.
Announcement on Repealing Customs Supervision Pattern Code (GAC Announcement No. 34 [2017])
As relevant policies for small-scale trade of tourist commodities have been cancelled, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) decided to repeal customs supervision pattern code “0139” to regulate customs management and trade statistics. The customs supervision pattern code “0139” is technically known as “Small-scale Orders for Tourist-initiated Exports below $50,000”, simplified as “Tourist Shopping Commodities”. Tourist Shopping Commodities refer to such tourist commodities or small-scale orders below $50,000 as purchased by foreign tourists with foreign exchange carried into China or as to be shipped out of China by domestic shipping services due to requests from foreign tourists. The announcement shall come into force as of August
1
st
, 2017.
Announcement on Issuing the Administrative Ruling on the Country of Origin (Ⅰ) (GAC Announcement No. 35 [2017])
The General Administration of Customs (GAC) has accepted the application for administrative ruling on the origin of “Anchor Skim Milk Powder” filed by Fonterra Commercial Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and the ruling result is hereby issued. The product is determined to be of New Zealand origin under the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of New Zealand. The announcement shall take effect as of Sept.
1
st
, 2017.
Announcement on Releasing Annotations on Commodities and Articles under the Customs Import and Export Tariff (Revised VersionⅠ& Ⅱ of 2017) (GAC Announcement No. 36 [2017])
The Annotations on Commodities and Articles under the Customs Import and Export Tariff (or the Tariff Annotations) functions as one of the important references for commodity classification. Recently, the World Customs Organization (WCO) has made some revisions to the Tariff Annotations (Revised Version 2017) mentioned above, and the GAC has made corresponding adjustments to the relevant content of the Tariff Annotations (Revised Version 2017) in accordance with the revisions released by the WCO (reference should be made to attachment Ⅰ& Ⅱ of the announcement). The revisions shall be effective as of Sept. 1st, 2017.
Announcement on Clarifying Administrative Licensing Items of Working Places under Customs Supervision (GAC Announcement No. 37 [2017])
The announcement has published the following regulations:
The requirements for companies applying for the operation of working places under customs supervision (hereinafter referred to as the Applicants) and the documents to be submitted;
The competent customs shall conduct on-site examination on working places under customs supervision proposed by the Applicants to determine whether they are in accordance with the Setup Rules for Working Places under Customs Supervision (to be formulated and announced separately by the GAC). For those that meets the conditions for registration, the Company Registration Certificate of XX Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Operating Working Places under Customs Supervision (hereinafter referred to as the Registration Certificate) shall be issued. The Registration Certificate shall remain valid for 3 years from the date of issuance;
The Registration Certificate mustn’t be transferred, leased or lent. The Announcement shall come into effect as of Nov.
1
st
, 2017.
Announcement on Cancelling Customs Clearance Pattern Based on Regional Customs Clearance Integration (GAC Announcement No. 38 [2017])
In accordance with the overall work plan for the national customs clearance integration reform, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) released an announcement on August
22
nd
to cancel the customs clearance model based on regional customs clearance integration, which means that customs nationwide will no longer accept any related applications. After the launching of road manifest, the Cross-border Quick-pass Customs Clearance Reform become applicable to all customs districts directly under the GAC within Guangdong Province. Paperless road customs transit service could be provided after the application of Internet of Things equipment including security intelligence lock, checkpoint front-end equipment, satellite positioning devices, and the adoption of check point control and connected information system to imported and exported goods transited between customs offices which are exported and imported by ship, air, railway or road, and are transported by road domestically. The announcement shall come into force upon promulgation.
Announcement on Issues Concerning Signing of Inspection Record for Goods Passing Machine Inspection (GAC Announcement No. 39 [2017])
To further optimize the goods customs clearance process and streamline the inspection procedures, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) is to cancel the requirement that consigners and consignees should sign the Record Form of Customs for Goods Inspection to confirm the record after their goods pass the machine inspection (i.e. when the machine inspection reports no abnormality and no further manual inspection is needed).
Announcement on Data Access Specifications for the Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import & Export Inspection and Quarantine Informationization Management System (GAQSIQ Announcement No. 42 [2017])
