Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine
（Approved and promulgated by the State Council on December 2, 1996 and shall come into force as of January 1, 1997）
Chapter I
General Provisions
Article 1 These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the provisions of the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine” （hereinafter referred to as the “Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine”）.
Article 2 In accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine and these Regulations, the following objects shall be subject to quarantine inspection:
（1） Animals and plants, their products and other quarantine objects for entry or exit or transit;
（2） Containers, packages and bedding/padding materials used for carrying animals and plants, their products or other quarantine objects;
（3） Means of transport from animal or plant epidemic or infected/infested areas;
（4） Old and disused vessels entering the country for disassembling purposes; or
（5） Other goods or objects subject to the entry and exit animal and plant quarantine in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws, administrative rules and regulations, international treaties or with the agreements of trade contracts.
Article 3 The competent department of agriculture administration under the State Council shall be in charge of the entry and exit animal and plant quarantine in the whole country.
The Animal and Plant Quarantine Administration of the People’s Republic of China（hereinafter referred to as “The Administration of Animal and Plant Quarantine”） shall conduct the work of unified administration over the entry and exit animal and plant quarantine in the whole country, collect information about epidemics of animal disease or plant pests occurring at home and abroad, and be in charge of international cooperations and exchanges of the entry and exit animal and plant quarantine.
Port animal and plant quarantine offices set up by the State Administration of Animal and Plant Quarantine at ports open to the outside world and at places busy with entry and exit animal and plant quarantine shall carry out entry and exit animal and plant quarantine in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine and these Regulations.
Article 4 In the event that epidemics of animal disease and plant pests occur abroad (outside the territory) and are liable to spread into the country, the following emergent preventive measures shall, in the light of the circumstances, be adopted:
（1） The State Council may conduct the control over relevant border areas, and may, if necessary, issue orders to prohibit means of transport from epidemic or infected/infested areas from entering the country or to blockade the relevant ports;
（2） The competent department of agriculture administration under the State Council may announce the lists of the animals and plants, their products and other quarantine objects from the countries or areas prevailing animal or plant epidemic prohibited from entering the country;
（3） Relevant port animal and plant quarantine offices may conduct emergent quarantine treatment for the objects on entry as listed in Article 2 of these Regulations which are liable to be contaminated with diseases, insect pests and other harmful organisms;
（4） Local people’s governments in areas threatened by animal or plant epidemics may immediately organize relevant departments to work out and carry out emergent plans, and, at the same time, report to the people’s governments at higher levels and the State Administration of Animal and Plant Quarantine.
The departments of post and telecommunications and departments of transportation shall give priority to transmitting or delivering reports concerning serious animal or plant epidemics or materials for quarantine inspection.
Article 5 The animals or plants, their products or other quarantine objects of foreign institutions and foreign entitled to the diplomatic or consular privilege and immunity entering the P.R. China for official use or private use shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine and these Regulations, be subject to quarantine inspection; when the port animal and plant quarantine offices carry out quarantine inspection, they shall abide by the provisions of relevant laws.
Article 6 The customs shall, according to law, coordinate with the port animal and plant quarantine office in carrying out supervision and control over the entry and exit animals and plants, their products or other quarantine objects. The specific methods shall be worked out by the competent department of agriculture administration under the State Council together with the General Administration of Customs.
Article 7 The lists of the animal or plant epidemic or infected/infested areas and of the countries or regions with and regions with prevalent epidemics of animal diseases or plant pests referred to by the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine shall be determined and announced by the competent department of agriculture administration under the State Council.
Article 8 Any units or individuals that have made remarkable achievements in carrying out the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine as well as these Regulations shall be rewarded.
Chapter II
Import Permits for Quarantine
Article 9 The State Administration of Animal and Plant Quarantine or its authorized port animal and plant quarantine offices shall be in charge of issuing permits for animals, animal products and the objects prohibited from entering the country as listed in the first paragraph of Article 5 of the Laws on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine.
The institutions as prescribed by the Regulations on Plant Quarantine shall be in charge of issuing the import permits for plant seeds, seedlings or other propagating materials.
Article 10 Only cases meeting the following requirements are allowed to be submitted for import permits:
(1) Export countries or regions are free from serious animal or plant epidemics;
(2) To be in conformity with the provisions of the Chinese laws, rules and regulations on animal and plant quarantine; and
(3) To be in conformity with relevant bilateral quarantine agreements (including quarantine agreement, memorandum, etc., similarly hereinafter) signed between China and the export country or region.
Article 11 Import permits procedures shall be properly completed before trade contracts or agreements are signed.
Article 12 Whoever carries or mails plant seeds, seedlings or other propagating materials to the country must submit an application in advance and get import permits; Those who are unable to apply in advance for particular reasons shall apply for import permits at the port pf entry, such above-mentioned objects are allowed to enter the country only if the import permits issuing authorities agree and the objects pass quarantine inspection.
Article 13 The owner, or his or her agent who requests a transit of animals through the country must, in advance, submit a written application to the State Administration of Animal and Plant Quarantine as well as disease information provided by the animal and plant quarantine offices under the government of the export country or region and the permits for such animals to enter the country issued by the animal and plant quarantine offices under the government of the import country or region and specify the planned transit route. An “Animal Transit Permit” shall be issued only upon an approval made by the State Administration of Animal and Plant Quarantine.
Article 14 To apply for special import permits for objects prohibited to enter the country under Section1 of Article 5 of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine for the purposes of such special needs as scientific research, the owner or his or her agent shall submit a written application specifies the number of objects, usage, import forms and epidemic prevention measures after entering the country, together with the remarks given by the relevant port animal and plant quarantine offices.
Article 15 Where there is any of the following circumstance after getting import permits, the owner, or his or her agent shall re-apply for the above-mentioned permits.
（1） Where the variety or the quantity of the entry objects is changed; （2） Change in the exporting country or region；
（2） Where the export country or region is changed;
（3） Where the entry port is changed; or
(4) Where the valid period of import permits is exceeded.
Chapter III
Entry Quarantine
Article 16 China’s statutory quarantine requirements prescribed in Article 11 of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine are referred to the requirements for animal and plant quarantine stipulated by the Chinese laws, administrative rules and regulations as well as by the competent department of agriculture administration under the State Council.
Article 17 The State shall institute a registration system for foreign units in the production, processing and storage of animal or plant products for exporting into China. Such specific procedures shall be formulated by the competent department of agriculture administration under the State Council.
Article 18 With respect to import animals and plants, their products or other quarantine objects, the owner, or his or her agent shall apply to the animal and plant quarantine office at the port of entry for quarantine inspection before or on their entry. If they are subject to being transferred away from a customs surveillance zone for quarantine inspection and when they are transported to the designated place, the owner, or his or her agent shall notify the relevant port animal and plant quarantine office. In the case of goods of transit customs, the owner, or his or her agent shall, on their entry, declare to the port animal and plant quarantine office at the port of entry; and when they are delivered to the designated place, the owner, or his or her agent shall apply to the port animal and plant quarantine office at the port of the designated place for quarantine inspection.
Whoever imports breeding stock and poultry, or their semen and embryos shall apply for quarantine inspection thirty(30) days prior to their entry; whoever imports other animals shall apply for quarantine inspection fifteen(15) days prior to their entry; whoever imports plant seeds, seedlings or other propagating materials shall apply for quarantine inspection seven(7) days prior to their entry.
With respect to the packaging materials or bedding/padding materials of animal or plant nature on their entry, the owner, or his or her agent shall timely apply to the port animal and plant quarantine office for quarantine inspection; the animal and plant quarantine office may, in the light of specific circumstances, conduct quarantine inspection over the declared objects.
The packaging materials or bedding/padding materials of animal or plant nature prescribed in the preceding paragraph refer to animal products, plants or plant products directly used as packaging materials or bedding/padding materials.
Article 19 In applying to the port animal and plant quarantine office for quarantine inspection, the application form shall be filled out, and documents such as the quarantine certificate issued by the animal and plant quarantine office under the government of the export country or region, certificate of origin, trade contract, letter of credit and invoices shall be submitted; if import permits are required according to the law, they shall be submitted; if there is no valid quarantine certificate issued by the animal and plant quarantine offices under the government of the export country or region, or in the case of failing to get import permits according to law, the port animal and plant quarantine office may, return or destroy them in the light of specific circumstances.
Article 20 When import animals or plants, their products or other quarantine objects are delivered to a port of entry, the quarantine offices may embark on the means of transport or arrive at the goods site to conduct quarantine inspection and verify the goods against their certificates to see whether they are in conformity with each other, and may collect samples according to relevant regulations. The carrier, the owner or his or her agent shall provide the quarantine officers with the bills of lading and relevant documents.
Article 21 When carriers loaded with animals arrive at the port of entry, the person who go up to and come down from the carriers or those who approach the animals shall be subject to disinfection procedures conducted by the port animal and plant quarantine office, and other on-the-spot preventive measures adopted by the office shall be carried out.
Article 22 The quarantine officers shall conduct on-the-spot quarantine inspection in accordance with the following provisions：
（1） Animals: To examine animals to see if animals have clinical symptoms of infectious disease. If the animals are suspected of suffering from infectious diseases or are found dead, they shall be dealt with immediately after the case has been verified through investigation together with the owners or the escorts. With respect to the bedding materials, remaining feed stuff and excrements of animals, the treatments of disinfection and disinfestation shall, under the supervision of the quarantine officers, be made by the owner, or his or her agent.
（2） Animal products: To examine animal products to see if they have gone rotten or bad; to examine their containers and packages whether to be kept in good shape. If such products meet the requirements, they will be permitted to be unloaded from the means of transport. If the packages are found to have come loose and the containers are put into shape by the owner, or his or her agent. In the light of circumstances, the relevant sections of the means of transport, the containers for carrying animal products, the surfaces of the packages, the bedding materials and the contaminated fields shall be disinfected. If a quarantine inspection in laboratory is required to be conducted, samples shall be collected in accordance with the regulations. With respect to the animal products which are apt to be the habitat for insect pests or mix with weed seeds, a plant quarantine for such animal products shall, at the same time, be conducted.
（3） Plants and plant products: To examine the goods and the packaging materials to see if there are diseases, insect pests and other harmful organisms, and samples of them shall be collected in accordance with the regulations. If diseases, insect pests and other harmful organisms are found and are liable to be spread, the necessary preventive measures against spread shall immediately be adopted for such goods, the means of transport and the spots of loading and unloading. With respect to the plant products which come from animal epidemic areas or are apt to carry pathogenic organisms of infectious or parasitic diseases of animals, and which are used for feed stuffs of animal, an animal quarantine for such plant products shall, at the same time, be conducted.
（4） With respect to packaging materials and bedding/padding materials of animal and plant nature: To examine them to see whether they carry diseases, insect pests or other harmful organisms whether to mix up weed seeds and to be stained with soil, and samples of them shall be collected according to relevant provisions.
（5） With respect to other quarantine objects: To examine the packages to see whether to be kept in good shape or the objects whether tie b contaminated by diseases, insect pests and other harmful organisms. If the packages are found to be broken or the objects are found to be contaminated by diseases, insect pests and other harmful organisms, they shall be subject to a treatment of disinfection and disinfestation.
Article 23 With respect to the staple animal and plant products transported by ships or trains, the inspection in their different layers shall be conducted on the spot; if an on-the-spot inspection is unable to be conducted due to the limitation of storing spaces at a harbour or railway station, a portion of the above products may, upon the agreement of the port animal and plant quarantine office, be unloaded while the other may be transported away to the designated places for storage. If epidemic diseases or insect pests are discovered by means of quarantine inspection in the process of unloading, the unloading shall immediately be stopped. With respect to the goods having been unloaded or not unloaded yet, the owner, or his or her agent shall, in accordance with the requirements of the port animal and plant quarantine office, conduct treatments of disinfection and disinfestation for the above goods respectively, and take the measures for the precaution against the spread of the epidemic diseases; the loading or unloading facilities and the sites contaminated by the disease, insect pests and other harmful organisms shall be also subject to a treatment of disinfection and disinfestation.
Article 24 The import large or medium size breeding stock shall be subject to quarantine for forty-five (45) days in animal isolation facilities established by the State Administration of Animal and Plant Quarantine; other import animals shall be subject to quarantine for thirty (30) days in animal isolation facilities designated by the port animal and plant quarantine offices. The management for animal isolation facilities shall be worked out by the competent department of agriculture administration under the State Council.