Issued by: Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China
Announcement No. 59, 2012
Date of Issuance: September 25, 2012

According to the Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas of Agricultural Products ([2003] No. 4 Order of the Ministry of Commerce and NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission), the Ministry of Commerce has formulated detailed rules for the quantity, application conditions and distribution of import tariff quota of sugar in 2013, which are hereby announced as follows:

I. The total import tariff quotas of sugar will be 1.945 million tons in 2013, 70% of which will be state-run trade quotas.

II. Basic conditions for the applicants for import tariff quota of sugar (hereinafter referred to as “the Applicants”) are that the Applicants: i) have been registered in the administrative department for industry and commerce before October 1, 2012 and passed the latest annual examination; ii) have no records of violation in aspects of customs, foreign exchange, industry and commerce, taxation, quality inspection, social security and environmental protection from 2010 to 2012; and iii) have no behaviors violating the Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas of Agricultural Products and the Detailed Rules for Applying and Distributing Import Tariff Quota of Sugar in 2012.

Besides the above conditions, the Applicants must meet one of the following conditions as well:
(i) Fall into the category of state trading enterprises;
(ii) Fall into the category of central enterprises with function of national reserve;
(iii) Fall into the category of enterprises that held tariff quota of sugar in 2012 and had import performance (hereinafter referred to as “the Applicants with Performance”);
(iv) Fall into the category of sugar enterprises with a registered capital of more than RMB10 million (included), processing over 600 tons (included) of raw sugar per day and realizing an annual sales of sugar of more than RMB 650 million (included); or
(v) Fall into the category of enterprises engaging in processing trade with sugar as raw material.

III. The Applicants shall provide the following materials:
(i) an application report of import tariff quota of agricultural products;
(ii) an application form of import tariff quota of agricultural products;
(iii) a copy of the Business License of Enterprise Legal Person (Duplicate) subject to the latest annual examination of the administrative department for industry and commerce;

(iv) a copy of the Certificate of Import Tariff Quota of Agricultural Products for sugar and a copy of the Import Declaration in 2012 endorsed and signed by the Customs; and
(v) a copy of the Enterprise Income Tax Annual Return of 2011 and the Certificate of Tax Payment, as well as a copy of the Value-added Tax Return of 2011 and the Certificate of Tax Payment.

The Applicants with Performance shall provide the materials set out in items (i) to (iv), while the Applicants without performance shall provide the materials set out in item (i), (ii), (iii) and (v). In case an applicant without performance was constructed and put into operation after 2011, it shall provide relevant documents issued by the competent department for approving the Feasibility Study Report of the construction project (or relevant documents for approving the project proposal) and the Completion Acceptance Report.

IV. The import tariff quota of sugar will be distributed in accordance with the import performance, production capacity, sales and other relevant commercial standards of the Applicants last year.

(i) In case the total tariff quota can meet the total amount of quota applied by qualified applicants, it shall be distributed as per the quantity applied by the Applicants.

(ii) In case the total tariff quota cannot meet the total amount of quota applied by qualified applicants, the priority shall be given to the Applicants with Performance to obtain the quota based on their import performance of last year; if there is quota allowance after such distribution, it shall be distributed to the Applicants with or without performance in proportion, taking the processing capacity and sales of the Applicants as main basis, or it shall be distributed as per the quantity applied by the Applicants in case the applied quantity is less than that distributed in proportion.

V. The application period for import tariff quota of sugar in 2013 shall be from October 15 to 30, 2012. The Applicants must submit their applications to the agency authorized by the Ministry of Commerce of the place where they carried out the industrial and commercial registration (hereinafter referred to as the “Authorized Agency”) within specified period. The Applicants can obtain the Application Form of Import Tariff Quota of Agricultural Products (See Annex 1) from the Authorized Agency or download it from the website of the Ministry of Commerce (http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/).

VI. The Authorized Agency is responsible for accepting the application for import tariff quota of sugar within its area, submitting qualified applications to the Ministry of Commerce and copying it to NDRC before November 30, 2012.

VII. The Ministry of Commerce will distribute the import tariff quota of sugar to successful applicants prior to January 1, 2013, and the Authorized Agency will issue Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas of Agricultural Products to successful applicants.

VIII. Any person who forges, alters, buys or sells Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas of Agricultural Products shall be investigated criminal liability in accordance with relevant provisions of laws on crime of illegal business operation or that of forging, altering, buying or selling the official document, certificate or seal of a state organ. For any tariff quota holder who has the above-mentioned behaviors, the Ministry of Commerce and the Authorized Agency will not accept its application for import tariff quota of agricultural products for the next two years.

Annexes: 1. Application Form of Import Tariff Quota of Agricultural Products
2. Tax Items for Import of Sugar of 2013

Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China
September 25, 2012