Provisions of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Declaration of Import and Export Goods, which were adopted at the Executive Meeting of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on December 23, 2002, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of November 1, 2003.
Mu Xinsheng
Minister
General Administration of Customs
September 18, 2003
Provisions of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Declaration of Import and Export Goods
(Adopted at the Executive Meeting of the General Administration of Customs on December 23, 2002, promulgated by Decree No.103 of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on September 18, 2003, and effective as of November 1, 2003)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative regulations concerning the administration of imports and exports for the purpose of standardizing the declaration of import and export goods.
Article 2 The term “declaration” in these Provisions means that the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises declare to Customs about the actual situation of the import and export goods and accept the verification of Customs in the specified period and location by submitting electronic and paper declaration forms in accordance with the Customs Law and other relevant administrative regulations and rules.
Article 3 Unless otherwise provided for, these Provisions shall be applicable to the various procedures of declaration of import and export goods that the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises go through..
Article 4 The consignors and consignees of export and import goods may declare to Customs by themselves or entrust agent declaration enterprises to declare to Customs on their behalf.
The consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall be registered at Customs in advance for going through Customs declaration procedures.
Article 5 Both electronic declaration form and paper declaration form shall be used in the declaration procedures, and both are of identical legal effect.
Electronic declaration refers to the way in which the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises transmit to Customs via computer systems the electronic data of Customs declaration and prepare the relevant attached documents, pursuant to the Provisions of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Filling in the Declaration Form for Import and Export Goods.
Paper declaration refers to the way in which the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises, in light of the Customs provisions, fill in the paper declaration forms and prepare the attached documents, with which the declaration is made vis-à-vis to Customs.
The consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall declare to Customs by lodging the electronic declaration form first, and the paper declaration form presented later together with the attached documents shall be consistent with the electronic declaration form. Under special circumstances, it is permitted to present paper declaration forms in advance, upon the approval of the Customs involved, with the electronic data to be declared afterwards conforming to the paper declaration forms. Declarations may be presented in paper form only, when the declarations are made to a Customs that has not adopted the information management system.
Article 6 The personnel handling the declaration procedures for the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall be qualified Customs brokers registered at Customs. No one who has not obtained the qualifications as a Customs broker or who has not been registered at Customs is allowed to handle the procedure of declaration of import and export goods.
The Customs brokers shall engage in declaration activities in accordance with the relevant laws, Customs regulations and rules. The Customs brokers and the enterprise they are affiliated with shall take corresponding legal liabilities for the declaration of the Customs brokers unless otherwise provided for in any law, administrative regulation or rule.
Chapter II Requirements of Customs Declaration
Article 7 The consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall declare to Customs faithfully and according to law, and take corresponding legal liabilities for the authenticity, accuracy, integrity and standardization of the declaration.
Article 8 The consignees of import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall declare to Customs within 14 days as of the day when declaration is made for the arrival of the means of transport.
The consignees of import goods involving cross-customs operations and the agent declaration enterprises shall go through the Customs procedures for cross-customs operations at the Customs of entry place within 14 days as of the day when declaration is made to the Customs of entry place for the arrival of the means of transport. The goods shall be declared to the Customs of destination place within 14 days as of the day of arrival at the destination place.
The consignors of export goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall declare to Customs after the goods arrive at the Customs control area but 24 hours before loading.
Customs may, in accordance with the Measures of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Charging Delayed Declaration Fees for Import Goods, charge a delayed declaration fee against the party that fails to declare to Customs within the specified period.
Article 9 The date of declaration in these Provisions refers to the day when the declared data are accepted by Customs. No matter in what form the declaration is lodged, either electronically or in paper form, Customs shall deem the date when the declared data are accepted by Customs as the date of the acceptance of declaration.
In the case of electronic declaration, the date of declaration shall be the day when the declared data are accepted by the computer system of Customs with the acceptance date recorded automatically, which is then notified to the enterprise that presents the data, or published at the operational site of the Customs or through public information system.
In the case of paper declaration, the date of declaration shall be the day when Customs accepts the paper declaration form and makes a record of the declaration.
Article 10 The declaration is taken to be refused by Customs where the electronic declaration form is returned by the computer system of Customs after examination. The consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall modify the form and declare again as is required, with the date of declaration being the day when the Customs accepts the re-declaration.
After manual examination and verification, where part of the declaration form that has been accepted by Customs requires modification, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall modify the form and send it again as is required, with the date of declaration remaining unchanged.
Article 11 Where the consignors and consignees of export and import goods declare to Customs in their own name, they shall affix their signatures and stamps on the declaration form and attach the relevant documents to it.
Where the declaration enterprises are entrusted by the consignors and consignees of export and import goods to declare to Customs in their own name or in the clients’ name, they shall present to Customs a power of attorney signed by the client and go through the procedures within the limit of authorization.
Article 12 Where a declaration enterprise is entrusted by a consignor or consignee of export and import goods to declare to Customs, it shall sign a power of attorney with the consignee or consignor explicitly specifying the commitment, and the consignee or consignor shall give notice to the declaration enterprise of the true conditions concerning the declaration commitment.
In handling the procedures of Customs declaration upon the entrustment of the consignors or consignees of export and import goods, the declaration enterprises shall verify the authenticity and integrity of the conditions notified by the clients, including:
1） the materials to prove the actual situation of the import and export goods, including the commodity descriptions, specifications, usage, origin, trade mode, etc;
2） such business documents as contract, invoice, documents of transportation, packing list, etc;
3） the license certificate necessary in import and export and the attached documents;
4） the manual for processing trade (either in electronic or paper form) and other documents in import and export as are required by Customs.
The declaration enterprises which fail to reasonably perform their obligation of inspecting and verifying the authenticity and integrity of the conditions of the goods provided by the consignors or consignees of export and import goods or make Customs declarations in violation of any of the provisions of Customs shall be subject to corresponding legal liabilities.
Article 13 The consignees of import goods may, before making a declaration, apply in writing to Customs for inspecting goods or taking samples for the purpose of ascertaining the commodity descriptions, specifications, sizes and classifications. The Customs shall send personnel for on-site supervision if the application is approved upon verification.
The Customs shall, when inspecting goods or taking samples, issue a sampling record or a list of samples. Where any of the sampled goods concerns any animal or plant or the product thereof or any other product that requires a quarantine certificate, the goods shall, according to the relevant legal provisions, be sampled after the acquisition of a written certification of approval from the competent authorities. After taking samples, the on-site supervision personnel sent by the Customs and the consignees of import goods shall affix their signatures to the sampling record or list of samples for confirmation.
Article 14 After being accepted by Customs, the declaration of import and export goods shall not be modified in any way, and none of the declaration documents shall be revoked. However, under any of the following circumstances, the declaration may be modified or revoked, provided that the consignors and consignees of export and import goods or the agent declaration enterprises present a written application to Customs for modification or revocation and Customs gives its approval:
1） An error has occurred to the electronic declaration data due to the failure of the computer or network system, etc;
2） After Customs finishes the release procedure for certain export goods, the declaration of part or all of the goods is cancelled due to the mistakes of loading, transportation or distribution, etc, which requires the modification or revocation of the original declaration forms and documents;
3） An error in declaration has occurred due to mistakes in operation or writing made by Customs personnel, which have no adverse effect on the implementation of the trade control policies, the collection of duties, taxes and fees, and the compilation of Customs statistics;
4） The original declaration data require modification after the verification of prices or classification or after other professional authentication;
5） The original declaration data require modification where a temporary price is specified in advance according to the customary trade practices yet the actual price is affirmed upon the settlement according to the quality of the inspected commodity or the actual price in the international market. However, where Customs has ordered the import and export goods to be put under surveillance or to be inspected, neither the consignors and consignees of export and import goods nor the agent declaration enterprises shall modify the content of the declaration form or revoke the declaration documents.
Article 15 Where it is necessary for the consignors or consignees of export and import goods or the agent declaration enterprises to make explanations or provide supplementary materials while Customs is verifying the electronic declaration form, the relevant party shall make the explanations and provide the supplementary materials immediately upon receipt of the Customs’ notice.
Article 16 After Customs has concluded the verification of the electronic declaration forms, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall, within 10 days as of the date of their receipt of the Customs’ notification of “presenting paper declaration form and the required attached documents on site” or “presenting paper declaration form and the required attached documents for release”, present the printed paper declaration form and the required attached documents, with their signatures and stamps affixed, to Customs at the place where the goods are located and go through the relevant Customs procedures.
Where it needs to postpone presenting the paper documents and going through the relevant Customs procedures due to such reasons as holidays and special occasions such as those involving cross-customs operations, etc, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall apply in writing to Customs in advance for an extended period and state the reasons, and with the approval of the Customs, may present the documents and go through the procedures within the extended period verified by the Customs. Where the consignors and consignees of export and import goods declare to Customs by themselves, they shall affix their signatures to the application letter. Where the consignors and consignees of export and import goods have entrusted agent declaration enterprises to declare, both the consignors and consignees and the agent declaration enterprises shall affix their signatures to the application letter.
Where paper declaration form fails to be presented within the specified or extended period, the Customs shall delete the electronic declaration form and the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall declare again, the delayed declaration fees arising from which shall be charged according to the Measures of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Charging Delayed Declaration Fees for Import Goods.
Where the documents are presented on site for verification, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall present to Customs the paper declaration form and the attached documents consistent with the electronic declaration form. Where there is inconsistency, the electronic declaration form shall be deleted, unless in case of special circumstances where there is only tiny inconsistency. For such tiny inconsistency, if there isn’t any violation against the law after verification by Customs, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises may renew the attached documents to make them consistent with the electronic declaration form or apply to Customs for explanation. Where the license certificate of import and export goods presented is inconsistent with the content of the declaration, the license certificate may be presented again after modification, provided that there isn’t any violation against any import and export trade control policy or any of the Customs regulations and rules after verification by Customs.
Article 17 Enterprises may conduct online real-time declaration via computer networks, the specific measures for which are to be formulated by the General Administration of Customs separately.
Chapter III Special Declaration
Article 18 With the approval of Customs, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises may declare to Customs in advance after acquiring the bill of lading, the waybill or the manifest.
Where the descriptions, specifications and amounts of import and export goods have been confirmed to be accurate, with the approval of Customs, enterprises may declare to Customs in advance within 3 days prior to the arrival of en-route import goods at the port of entry or the arrival of export goods in the Customs control areas, presenting the relevant attached documents, the approval documents of import and export goods and other necessary documents, according to the requirements of Customs.
The validity period of the license certificate of import and export goods declared in advance shall be counted according to the date of Customs’ acceptance of the declaration. The application of duty rates and exchange rates of the import and export goods declared in advance shall be conducted according to the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Duties (hereinafter referred to as theRegulations on Duties).
Article 19 Under special circumstances and upon the approval of Customs, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises may go through the procedures of consolidated declaration at designated Customs within 1 month as of the day when declaration for entry of the means of transport loaded with goods is made.
The enterprise applying the procedures of consolidated declaration shall provide the Customs with effective security, and report to the Customs, whenever there is import and export of goods, such information necessary for Customs control as the date of import and export, the name of the means of transport, the number of bills of lading (waybills), the tariff codes, the descriptions of goods, the specifications and sizes, the prices, the places of origin, the amounts, the weight and the consignees or consignors, etc., where the Customs may permit advance inspection and release of goods. After the enterprise applying the procedures of consolidated declaration has claimed the goods, it shall proceed with the Customs procedures of consolidated declaration, duty and tax payment and release within 1 month as of the day when the declaration for the entry of the means of transport loaded with goods is made. In the case of failure to declare within the specified period, delayed declaration fees shall be charged according to the Measures of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Charging Delayed Declaration Fees for Import Goods.
Electronic declaration shall be adopted in consolidated declaration.
The application of duty rates and exchange rates of the import and export goods applying the procedures of consolidated declaration shall be conducted according to the Regulations on Duties.
Article 20 With the approval of Customs, the import and export goods transported through cables, pipelines, conveyer belts or in other special ways may be declared periodically to designated Customs.
Article 21 Where the information on intellectual property rights of import and export goods is required to be declared to Customs, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall faithfully present to Customs the information on intellectual property rights of import and export goods, and, as required by Customs, provide certificates and other relevant documents adequate to prove the accuracy of the content of declaration. Customs shall take measures of protection according to the relevant legal provisions.
Article 22 When Customs inspects the declared value and tariff classification of import and export goods, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall present the relevant documents and materials as are required by the Customs.
Article 23 Where supplementary declaration is required, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall fill in the supplementary declaration form according to the facts and present it to Customs.
Article 24 The provisions concerning the declaration of transshipments, through goods, transit goods and express consignments are to be formulated by the General Administration of Customs separately.
Chapter IV Declaration of Documents
Article 25 When the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises go to the operational sites of Customs for procedures of on-site documents inspection, payment of duties, taxes and fees, and examination and release of goods, they shall present the paper declaration form consistent with the content of the electronic declaration form, the license certificate(s) for the administration of import and export and the attached documents as are required by the Customs.
Article 26 The paper declaration form presented to Customs can be either ready-made standard form in specific format or printed directly on an A-4 paper.
The paper declaration form for import goods shall be submitted in quintuplicate, consisting of a page for Customs operation, a page for Customs to keep record, a page for the enterprise to keep record, a page for Customs verification and writing-off, and a page for certification (for import payment) respectively.
The paper declaration form for export goods shall be submitted in sextuplicate, consisting of a page for Customs operation, a page for Customs to keep record, a page for the enterprise to keep record, a page for Customs verification and writing-off, a page for certification (for collection of export payment), and another page for certification (for export drawbacks) respectively.
Article 27 The documents attached to the declaration form for import and export goods include:
1） contract;
2） invoice;
3） packing list;
4） manifest;
5） bill of lading (waybill);
6） power of attorney for Customs declaration;
7） license certificate for import and export;
8） manual for processing trade required by Customs (in the form of paper or electronic data) and other documents relating to import and export.
Customs shall retain the original version of the license certificate for import and export, and may retain the copies or duplicates of the rest of the documents.
Article 28 Where Customs has had an advance classification decision on the goods before their actual import and export, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall present the Decision of Pre-Classification to Customs when declaring the import and export of goods.
Chapter V Issuance and Makeup Issuance of the Certification Page and the Verification and Writing-Off Page of the Declaration Form
Article 29 According to the requirements of the administration of foreign exchange, taxation and processing trade, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises may apply to Customs for the issuance of the following certification pages of the declaration form, provided that they have concluded the Customs procedures:
1） The certification page of the declaration form of export goods for export drawbacks;
2） The certification page of the declaration form of import goods for payment;
3） The certification page of the declaration form of export goods for collection of payment;
4） The verification and writing-off page of the Customs for verification and cancellation in processing trade.
While issuing the certification page of declaration form, Customs shall stamp on the lower right corner of the printed certificate page with the inscription of “verification completed”, which has been recorded in the relevant departments.
The consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall provide valid certificates required by Customs while applying for the issuance of the certification page and the verification and writing-off page of the declaration form.
Article 30 Where makeup issuance is required under such special circumstances as the loss or damage of the certification page or the verification and writing-off page of the declaration form originally issued by Customs, the consignors and consignees of export and import goods and the agent declaration enterprises shall apply in writing to Customs within 1 year as of the day when the original page was issued with relevant documents attached for certification. No makeup issuance of any page is allowed without the verification and approval of Customs. Customs shall inscribe the Chinese characters meaning “Makeup Issuance” on the certification page and the verification and writing-off page, and charge the cost of production according to the relevant provisions.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 31 With regard to goods imported to and exported from bonded areas and export processing zones, goods moving into and out of bonded areas and export processing zones, and goods involved in domestic sale, carrying forward of surplus materials and deep processing in the follow-up phases of processing trade, these Provisions shall apply to the declaration procedures unless otherwise provided for.
Article 32 With regard to import and export goods involving cross-customs operations, the declaration procedures shall be handled according to the Measures of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China for the Supervision and Administration of Goods Involving Cross-Customs Operations.
Article 33 The consignors and consignees of export and import goods, the agent declaration enterprises and the Customs brokers, when violating the present Provisions, shall be punished according to the provisions of the relevant laws, regulations and rules, such as the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Administrative Penalties of the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Article 34 These Provisions shall be interpreted by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.
Article 35 These Provisions shall be effective as of November 1, 2003.