Issued by: Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China
Announcement No. 60, 2012
Date of Issuance: September 25, 2012

In accordance with Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas of Agricultural Products (Order No.4 of 2003 of the Ministry of Commerce and National Development and Reform Commission), the Ministry of Commerce formulated the Detailed Rules for Implementation of Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Wool and Tops in 2013 and it is hereby announced as follows:

I. The total import tariff quotas for wool are 287,000 tons in 2013, and the total import tariff quotas for tops are 80,000 tons.

II. The allocation policy of first-come and first-serve is implemented in terms of the import tariff quotas for wool and tops in 2013. The applicants may apply for the import tariff quotas for wool and tops (including processing trade) by the submission of import contracts of wool and tops and relevant documents. The authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce will issue Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products to the qualified applicants. When the accumulative quotas issued reach the total import tariff quotas for wool and tops in 2013, the above-mentioned organization will cease accepting applications.

III. Application Criteria:

1. Enterprise that holds the import tariff quotas for wool and tops in 2012 and has import performance in 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the applicant with performance) or newly-established enterprise in operation with annual processing capacity of over 5,000 tons of wool and tops (hereinafter referred to as the applicant without performance);

2. Enterprise that is registered in the administrative department for industry and commerce before January 1, 2013 with approval in the last annual inspection;

3. Enterprise without any violation record in terms of customs, administration for industry and commerce, taxation, quality inspection, foreign exchange, social security and environmental protection for the last year;

4. The enterprise without any violation record of Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas of Agricultural Products, Detailed Rules for Implementation of Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Wool and Tops in 2012 and Implementation Rules for Administration of Tariff Quotas for Countries Importing Wool and Tops in 2012.

IV. Applicant for tariff quotas that meets the above-mentioned criteria shall submit his application with import contracts of wool and tops to the authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce at the location of its industrial and commercial registration (enterprise under the regulation of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission in Beijing shall submit its application directly to Quotas and License Administrative Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce, hereinafter the same). Applicant shall fill out Application Form of Import Tariff Quotas for Wool and Tops truthfully (see Annex 1), and submit the aforesaid documents to the authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce during their first application for the year as well.
Applicant without performance shall submit its construction project examination and approval documents (the project proposal or the feasibility study report) and the completion acceptance report issued by the competent authority. After being approved by the Ministry of Commerce, the applicant may apply for the import tariff quotas for wool and tops in 2013.

V. Applicant for the tariff quotas may claim Application Form of Import Tariff Quotas for Wool and Tops in the Ministry of Commerce or download the application form from the website of the Ministry of Commerce http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/.

VI. Applicant with performance may submit several applications for tariff quotas within one year, but its accumulative tariff quotas by September 30, 2013 for wool and tops applied and approved shall not exceed the import volume under the same trade mode respectively in 2012. Such import volume shall be calculated in accordance with the accumulative volume received by the authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce with the internet verification and signed by the customs in Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products(hereinafter the same).

VII. If, after September 30, 2013, the total tariff quotas is not used up and the applicant with performance has accomplished the import quantity specified in Article VI, the applicant may, with the approval from the Ministry of Commerce, continue to make application for import tariff quotas; applicant without performance approved by the Ministry of Commerce may submit its application for quotas, but such quotas to be applied for shall not exceed the approved quantity.

VIII. If the authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce accepts the application and such application conforms to the provisions in Article III, Article VI and Article VII, the applicant shall submit its application in the computer network system of the Ministry of Commerce in a timely manner. The application sequence in the management network terminal display of the Ministry of Commerce shall prevail.

IX. Upon the Ministry of Commerce receives the complete and full internet application, it shall inform the authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce of the approval result through the Internet within five (5) working days.

X. Upon the authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce receives the approval notification, it shall issue Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products to the end user in accordance with the quantity approved by the Ministry of Commerce within five (5) working days. If the Certificate is not issued within the stipulated time, the computer system will take back the applied quantity; and the quantity available for application of the applicant for the year will be deducted accordingly.

XI. Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products shall be valid for three months as of its date of signature and its validation shall be no later than December 31, 2013.

XII. Where the commodities are shipped from the port of departure before December 31, 2013 and will arrive next year, the tariff quotas holder shall apply for the extension of Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products to the authorized organization of the Ministry of Commerce with shipping documents and valid Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products. The extended Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products will be valid for a term not later than the end of February in 2014.

XIII. If with the validation term of Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products, the holder of the tariff quotas does not use or has not used up the applied tariff quotas, it shall return the original Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products to the authorized issuance organization of the Ministry of Commerce. Such organization shall verify and eliminate the used quantity in the computer system and return the unused quantity. Meanwhile, the above organization shall note the same in the remarks column of the corresponding original Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products and retain it for future reference. The Ministry of Commerce will take back the remaining quotas stated in the Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products and includes it in the remaining quantity of tariff quotas for wool and tops. The import tariff quotas that cannot be accomplished within the year shall be returned not later than September 15, 2013. The unreturned quotas on the specified date are deemed as the unaccomplished imports and proportional deduction will be conducted in the quantity available for application in 2014.

XIV. With twenty (20) working days after going through the customs procedures for importing commodities, the tariff quotas holder shall submit the original first page of the Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products (the customs procedures for the receiver to go through) to the authorized issuance organization of the Ministry of Commerce. The organization shall verify and eliminate the used quotas in the computer system in a timely manner and retain the original document. The verification and elimination of the extended Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products shall not be later than March 31, 2014. Quotas fail to be verified and eliminated within the stipulated time shall be deemed as the unaccomplished imports, so the proportional deduction will be conducted in the quantity available for application in 2014.

XV. If the applicant defrauds Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products by counterfeiting contracts or documents, it shall be punished in accordance with relevant provisions in Interim Measures of Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural products.

XVI. Anyone who counterfeits, alters and sells Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products shall hold responsibility for its crime in accordance with provisions of relevant laws concerning illegal business, or forgery, alteration, sale of national official documents, certificates and seals. If the tariff quotas holder commits the above-mentioned crimes, the Ministry of Commerce and its authorized organizations will not accept its application for the import tariff quotas for agricultural products within two years.

Annexes: 1. Application Form of Import Tariff Quotas for Wool and Tops
2. Table of Import Tariff for Wool and Tops in 2013

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