The Decision of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Amending Some Rules, which was deliberated and adopted at the Executive Meeting of the General Administration of Customs on November 20, 2017, is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of February 1, 2018.
Yu Guangzhou
Minister
General Administration of Customs
December 20, 2017
The Decision of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Amending Some Rules
In order to further deepen the customs reform of streamlining administration, delegating authorities and management, and optimizing services to create a sound business environment featuring effective and targeted customs supervision, simplified customs clearance and related processes, and reduced unnecessary institutional cost, the General Administration of Customs has decided to amend 23 rules and regulations, including The Measures of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for the Regulation of Inbound and Outbound Passengers’ Luggage and Articles, with the specific amendments as follows:
The Interim Measures for the Administration of Bonded Port Areas of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China (promulgated in the form of Decree No. 164 of the General Administration of Customs and amended in accordance with Decree No. 191 of the General Administration of Customs) are hereby amended as follows:
⑴ Article 5 (2) shall be amended to read “The offices of the Customs or other administrative institutions shall be located outside the fences of the bonded port areas.”
⑵ Article 9 shall be amended to read “Enterprises in the bonded port areas (hereinafter referred to as “enterprises within the areas”) shall have the legal person status. Under special circumstances and subject to the approval of the competent Customs authorities of the bonded port area, incorporated enterprises outside a bonded port area may set up branch offices according to law in the bonded port areas.”
⑶ Article 15 shall be amended to read “For the goods transported between a bonded port area and an overseas area, the relevant formalities shall be completed with the Customs in accordance with relevant regulations.”
⑷ The wording “complete the customs declaration formalities with the competent Customs authority in the bonded port area according to the relevant provisions on import-export goods” in Article 21 (1) shall be amended to read “complete relevant formalities with the Customs in accordance with relevant regulations”, and the wording “If any duty needs to be levied, the enterprise in the bonded port area or the consigner or consignee of the outer area shall pay the duty in terms of the actual conditions of the goods at the time when entering or exiting the bonded port area” amended to “If any duty needs to be levied, except as otherwise prescribed, the enterprise in the bonded port area or the consigner or consignee of the outer area shall pay the duty in terms of the actual conditions of the goods at the time when entering or exiting the bonded port area.”
Article 21 (2) shall be deleted.
⑸ Article 26 shall be amended to read “Where goods and equipment from China other than bonded port areas enter the bonded port areas by means of export declaration, the export rebates shall be handled in accordance with the relevant regulations of China; where goods and equipment from China other than bonded port areas are originally imported, the customs shall not refund the duties already paid or the taxes withheld by the Customs at the entry links.”
“Except as otherwise prescribed, the customs shall administer the goods mentioned in the preceding paragraph by applying mutatis mutandis bonded goods, and the equipment mentioned in the preceding paragraph by applying mutatis mutandis tax-cut and tax-exempt equipment.”
⑹ The wording “In case of any need for tax refunding for the replacements of the homemade spare parts, accessories or fittings, the enterprises within the area or out of the area shall file an application with the competent Customs within the area. The latter shall handle the formalities according to the relevant provisions on export goods and shall issue the certification page of the export declaration form accordingly” in Article 28 (3) shall be amended to read “In case of any need for tax refunding for the replacements of the homemade spare parts, accessories or fittings, the enterprises shall handle the formalities according to the relevant provisions on export goods.”
⑺ The wording “The period for processing commissioned to an enterprise out of the bonded port area shall not be more than 6 months” in Article 29 (2) shall be amended to read “The period for processing commissioned to an enterprise out of the bonded port area shall not exceed the period of validity specified in the contract or agreement.”
⑻ The wording “The enterprises within the bonded port areas shall not be subject to the system of bank account of guarantee fund for processing trade or the contract verification and cancellation system for processing trade” in Article 31 shall be amended to read “Enterprises within the bonded port areas shall carry out operations such as electronic account set-up, registration, and verification and cancellation in accordance with relevant regulations.”
⑼ The wording “The repair and maintenance business within the area is restricted to the after-sale repair and maintenance service in respect to the mechanic or electronic products exported from China. The repaired products, the replaced components, accessories and the materials engendered in the process of repair and maintenance shall be transported out of the area” in Article 32 shall be amended to read “The Customs shall, in accordance with relevant regulations, conduct supervision and control over enterprises engaging in bonded maintenance business in the bonded port areas.”
⑽ Article 33 shall be deleted.
⑾ Article 37 (1) shall be amended to read “Except as otherwise stipulated by the State, there shall not be any time limit for storage of goods in the bonded port area.”
Article 37 (2) shall be deleted.
⑿ The wording “shall not issue the certification page of the export declaration forms to be used for export tax refund” and “the Customs at the place from where the goods are transferred shall issue the certification page of the export declaration form to be used for the export tax refund formalities” in Article 38 (1) shall be deleted.
Article 38 (3) shall be deleted.
⒀ The wording “ when the export goods arrive in the bonded port area, the Customs, after accepting the declaration and clearing the export goods, shall issue the certification page of the export declaration form” in Article 39 shall be deleted.
⒁ The sequence of the articles shall be adjusted accordingly.