Decree of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China No.210

The Measures of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for the Origin of Imported Goods under the Special Preferential Tariff Treatment to the Least Developed Countries , which were adopted at the executive meeting of the General Administration of Customs on July 1, 2013, are hereby promulgated, and shall come into force as of July 1，2013. 

Yu Guangzhou

Minister
General Administration of Customs
July 1，2013

Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for the Origin of Imported Goods under the Special Preferential Tariff Treatment to the Least Developed Countries

Article 1 For the purposes of correctly determining the origin of imported goods under the special preferential tariff treatments to the least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China and promoting the economic trade between China and the relevant countries, these Measures are formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Origin of Imported and Exported Goods.

Article 2 These Measures shall apply to the goods that are imported from the least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China (hereinafter referred to as the "Beneficiary Countries") under items of enjoying special preferential tariff treatment.
The list of Beneficiary Countries shall be otherwise announced by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 3 In any of the following cases, the goods directly imported and transported from a Beneficiary Country are deemed as originating goods of such Beneficiary Country, which shall enjoy the corresponding special preferential tariff as provided in the Import and Export Tariff Regulations of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Tariff Regulations"):
1. wholly obtained or produced from a Beneficiary Country; or
2. not wholly obtained or produced from a Beneficiary Country, where the substantial change of such goods is finally completed.
The term "substantial change" as mentioned in Item 2 of Paragraph 1 of Article 3 shall apply to the determination of standards as provided in Article 5, 6 and 7 hereof.

Article 4 The term of the goods "wholly obtained or produced from a Beneficiary Country" as mentioned in Item 1 of Article 3 of the Measures refers to:
1. the live animals borne and raised in such Beneficiary Country;
2. the products obtained from the animals of such Beneficiary Country as mentioned in Item 1 of this Article;
3. the plants or their products harvested, picked or collected from such Beneficiary Country;
4. the products obtained from hunting or fishing in such Beneficiary Country;
5. the fish, shellfish and other aquatic products obtained from the offshore waters, which may be developed by such Beneficiary Country under its applicable domestic laws in accordance with the relevant international convention entered by it, by vessels registered in such Beneficiary Country legally flowing the flag of such Beneficiary Country,
6. the products obtained from processing the products as listed in Item 5 of this Article on the processing vessels registered in such Beneficiary Country legally flowing the flag of such Beneficiary Country;
7. the mineral products and other natural materials exploited or extracted from such Beneficiary Country, or products (other than fish, selfish and other aquatic products) obtained from the offshore waters, seabed and subsoil which may be developed by such Beneficiary Country under its applicable domestic laws in accordance with the relevant international convention entered by it;
8. the waste and old articles that are gathered in the course of consumption in such Beneficiary Country and that can only be used as raw materials of recycling;
9. the waste and piecemeal materials that are generated in the course of production in such Beneficiary Country and that can only be used as raw materials of recycling; and
10. the products obtained from processing the products as listed in Items 1 to 9 of this Article within such Beneficiary Country.

Article 5 Goods not wholly obtained or produced from a Beneficiary Country but are in compliance with the Specific Rules of Origin for Goods of the Least Developed Countries That Have Established Diplomatic Relations with China shall be deemed as originating goods of such Beneficiary Country.
The Specific Rules of Origin for Goods of the Least Developed Countries That Have Established Diplomatic Relations with China is an integral part of these Measures, which shall be otherwise formulated and announced by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 6 Unless otherwise provided in the Specific Rules of Origin for Goods of the Least Developed Countries That Have Established Diplomatic Relations with China, the manufactured or processed products from partially or wholly using materials not originating from the Beneficiary Country within the Beneficiary Country shall be deemed as originating goods of the Beneficiary Country despite the four digital of tax classification as provided in the Tariff Regulations of such products have changed.

Article 7 Unless otherwise provided in the Specific Rules of Origin for Goods of the Least Developed Countries That Have Established Diplomatic Relations with China, where the added-value part of the goods produced by partially or wholly using materials not originating from the Beneficiary Country within the Beneficiary Country is not lower than 40% of the FOB price of the goods, such goods shall be deemed as originating goods of such Beneficiary Country.
The percentage of the added value part of the goods as mentioned in the first Paragraph of this Article shall be calculated as per the following methods:
FOB Price of Goods – Price of Non-originating Materials
----------------------------------------------------------------------- * 100% ≥ 40%
FOB Price of Goods
"Price of Non-originating Materials" refers to the price of the non-originating materials of the Beneficiary Country, including the import cost and the insurance premium and freight to the destination port or place. For the materials without clear origin of goods, the price which is actually paid or payable for such materials within the Beneficiary Country and may be determined as early as possible shall be calculated in the price of non-originating materials; and when such materials without clear origin of goods are obtained within the territory of Beneficiary Country by the goods manufacturers, the freight, premium, packing fee and any other expenses incurred by transporting such materials from the warehouse of the supplier to the location of the supplier shall not be calculated in the price of non-originating materials.
The calculation of the FOB price and price of non-originating materials as provided herein shall be in compliance with the Agreement on Customs Valuation.

Article 8 The following minor processing or treatment shall not have any impact on the determination of the origin of the goods:
1. the processing or treatment conducted for preserving the goods in the transportation or storage period;
2. the processing or treatment conducted for facilitating loading and unloading thereof;
3. the packing, exhibiting and other types of processing or treatment conducted for sales of the goods;
4. simple dilution, mix, drying, assembly, classification or decorating; or
5. animal slaughtering.

Article 9 For the complete sets of goods as provided in the general classification rule III of the Tariff Regulation, if all goods are originated from the same Beneficiary Country, such complete sets of goods shall be originated from such Beneficiary Country; if part of the goods are not originated from such Beneficiary Country, but the percentage of the price of non-originating goods as determined in accordance with Article 7 hereof is not exceeding 15% of the price of the complete sets of goods, such complete sets of goods shall still be deemed as originating from such Beneficiary Country.

Article 10 In the determination of the origin of goods, the origin of the following materials or articles as used in the course of production of goods, which do not constitute the material composition of goods or constituents of goods, shall not affect the determination of the original of goods:
1. fuel, energy, catalyst and solvent;
2. equipments, devices and appliance used for testing or examining the goods;
3. gloves, glasses, shoes, cloth, safety equipments and appliances;
4. tools, models and moulds;
5. spare parts and materials used for maintaining equipments, plants and building;
6. lubricant, oil (grease), synthetic materials and other materials used in the production or used for operating equipments and maintaining the construction of plants; and
7. any other goods used in the course of production of goods, which do not constitute the constituent of such goods but can reasonably show that they have participate in the course of production of such goods.

Article 11 Where the standards for applicable tariff code for good are changed, in the determination of the origin of goods, the origin of the packages, packing materials and containers that are declared and uniformly classified into the same category of the goods under the Tariff Regulations and the origin of the accessories, spare parts, tools and introductory materials normally equipped that are declared and uniformly classified into the same category of the goods under the Tariff Regulations shall not impact the determination of origin of goods.
Where the ad valorem percentage applies to the goods, in the calculation of the value-added percentage of goods, the price of the packages, packing materials and containers that are declared and uniformly classified into the same category of the goods under the Harmonized System and the price of the accessories, spare parts, tools and introductory materials normally equipped as well as the specification materials shall be calculated.

Article 12 The term "directly transported" as mentioned in Article 3 hereof refers to the direct transport of imported goods declared to enjoy special preferential tariff treatment from the Beneficiary Country to China without passing by any other country or region other than China and such Beneficiary Country (hereinafter referred to as the "Other Country or Region").
Where the goods are transported to China via Other Country or Region, regardless of whether any shift of transport vehicle is made during the transport or whether there is any interim storage made, it shall be deemed as "directly transported" if the following conditions are met:
1. where the goods do not enter into the trade or consumption field of Other Country of Region;
2. where such goods did not have any other treatment other than loading and unloading or other treatments necessary for keeping the goods in good condition when passing Other Country or Region; and
3. where the transport of such goods is under regulation and supervision of the customs of such Country or Region.
Under the circumstance as provided in Paragraph 2 of this Article, the stay time of relevant goods in Other Country or Region shall not exceed three months.

Article 13 Where the customs have any evidence to prove that the imported goods are suspected of circumventing these Measures, such imported goods may not enjoy special preferential tariff treatment.

Article 14 When the goods are declaring import, the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof shall complete the Form for Declaration of Imported Goods of the Customs of the People's Republic of China to state the application of preferential tariff, and simultaneously submit the following documents:
1. the valid original and second duplicate of the certificate of origin (see the format in Appendix) issued by the government agency designated by the beneficiary exporting country that is stamped by the Customs of such Beneficiary Country (hereinafter referred to as the "Issuing Institution") .
In case of failure to provide valid original and second duplicate of the certificate of origin, the consignee or agent shall make supplementary declaration to the customs with respect to whether such imported goods have possessed the qualifications for originating goods in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Preferential Origins of Import and Export Goods.
2. original commercial invoice for the goods; and
3. transport documents and certificates of the goods:
(1) where the goods are directly transported to China from the Beneficiary Country, the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof shall submit the transport documents issued by the exporting Beneficiary Country;
(2) where the goods are transported to China via Other Country or Region, the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof shall submit the combined transport bill of lading issued by the exporting Beneficiary Country and the relevant documents proving the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 12 of these Measures, etc.;
Where the Beneficiary Country is an inland country and the goods must be shipped from other country due to transport reason, the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof may submit the combined transport bill of lading issued by Other Country or Region where the combined transport starts, the transport documents for the transport from the exporting Beneficiary Country to the country or region that issues the combined transport bill of lading, and the relevant documents proving compliance with the Paragraph 2 of Article 12 hereof, etc.; and
(3) where the goods are temporarily stored in Other Country or Region, the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof shall submit the documents for the entire transport of goods, and the documents issued by the customs of the country or region where the goods are temporarily store for the purpose of proving the compliance with Article 12 hereof.

Article 15 Where the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof makes supplementary declaration to the entry customs on whether such imported goods have the qualifications for origin of the Beneficiary Country in accordance with Article 14 hereof, the entry customs may, pursuant to the application of the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof, legally choose to release the goods after it charges a sum of security equivalent to the amount of tariff calculated according to the most-favored nation rate, general tariff or other tariff rate applicable to the goods, and it shall handle the entry formalities in accordance with the relevant provisions and collect the corresponding customs statistics.

Article 16 The consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof may, if simultaneously meeting the following conditions, apply to the customs for return of the paid security equivalent to the amount of tariff within one year from the date of payment of such security:
1. where it has made supplementary declaration to the entry customs on that the imported goods have the qualifications for origin, and stated to be applicable to the special preferential tariff; and
2. where it has submitted the valid original and second duplicate of the certificate of origin and other documents in connection with the import of goods that are required to be provided by the entry customs.
Where the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof fails to apply for return of security within one year upon payment of such security, the entry customs shall immediately go through the formalities for the transfer of security into import duties. The customs statistics data shall be simultaneously and correspondingly amended.

Article 17 The certificate of origin for imported goods enjoying special preferential tariff treatment shall be consisted of one original and three duplicates. The duplicate includes the second, third and fourth duplicates, in which, the second duplicate is for any necessary verification deemed by the customs, the third duplicate is for retention of the Issuing Institution of the exporting Beneficiary Country, and the fourth duplicate shall be kept by the exporter.

Article 18 The certificate of origin shall be valid within one year upon the date of issuance.

Article 19 The certificate or origin submitted to the customs by the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof shall simultaneously meet the following conditions:
1. it shall be issued at the time of export of goods or within five days upon export of goods by the Issuing Institution;
2. it shall be made in the format as provided in the appendix of these Measures and completed in English;
3. it shall meet such security requirements as being in consistent with the stamp specimen as notified by the Beneficiary Country to the customs of China;
4. it shall have the stamps affixed by the customs of the export Beneficiary Country;
5. the goods or any of them listed thereon shall be the imported goods of the same batch;
6. it shall have unrepeated serial number of the certificate of origin;
7. it shall state the basis for determining the goods have the qualifications for origin; and
8. the certificate is still in its valid term.

Article 20 When having any doubt upon the authenticity of the certificate of origin or whether the concerned goods are originated from relevant Beneficiary Country, or having any other doubt under other provisions hereof, the General Administration of Customs may, directly or via the economic and commercial counselor's office of the embassy or consulate of China based in the corresponding Beneficiary Country, require the customs of the Beneficiary Country or the original issuing authority of the certificate of origin to conduct verification, and to give it a reply within 180 days as of the receipt of the verification request. Whenever necessary and upon consent of the relevant competent authorities of the Beneficiary Country, the General Administration of Customs may dispatch personnel to visit the location of the exporter or supplier in the Beneficiary Country, and make onsite survey over the review procedures of the competent institutions of the Beneficiary Country.
In case of failure to receive any reply within the said period, the goods may not enjoy the special preferential tariff treatments.
During the period of waiting for the result of verification of the certificate of origin by the Beneficiary Country, the customs may, pursuant to the application of the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof, legally choose to release the goods after it charges a sum of security equivalent to the amount of tariff calculated according to the most-favored nation rate, general tariff or other tariff rate applicable to the goods, and it shall handle the entry formalities in accordance with the relevant provisions and collect the corresponding customs statistics. After the customs of the exporting country or the issuing authority of the certificate of origin completes the verification, the entry customs shall, according to the verification result, promptly handle the formalities for refunding the security or converting the security to the import tariff, and correct the relevant statistic data accordingly.
In case of the imported goods restricted by the importing country or subject to violation of laws, the entry Customs shall not release them before completion of the review of the certificate of origin.

Article 21 Where the certificate of origin is theft, lost or damaged, and unused, the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof may demand the exporter of such imported goods to apply to the original Issuing Institution of the Beneficiary Country for issuance of the approved duplicate of the certificate of origin within the term of the original certificate of origin in writing upon the strength of the fourth duplicate of the original certificate of origin. Such duplicate shall be indicated on its remark column that "the approved authentic copy of the original of the certificate of origin (No.: ____, Date: ____)". Upon submittal of the approved duplicate of the certificate of origin to the customs, the original certificate of origin will become invalidated.
Where the original certificate of origin has been used, the approved duplicate of the certificate of origin shall be invalid.

Article 22 Under any of the following circumstances, the certificate of origin may be re-issued within 12 months upon the date of export of goods:
1. where the certificate of origin did not issue at the time of export of goods or within five days upon the date of export of such goods due to force majeure; or
2. where the authority institution is convinced that the certificate of origin has been issued, but the certificate of origin has not been accepted at the time of import due to fail to comply with the provisions of Article 19 hereof.
The re-issued certificate of origin shall indicate the wording of "re-issuance" on it. In case of circumstance under Item 1 of Paragraph 1 hereof, the reissued certificate shall be effective within one year upon the date of actual export of goods; and in case of circumstance under Item 2 of Paragraph 1 hereof, the term of the reissued certificate shall be consistent with the term of the original certificate of origin.

Article 23 Under any of the following circumstances, the special preferential tariff shall not apply to the imported goods:
1. where the origin of the imported goods does not comply with the provisions hereof;
2. where the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof does not submit the valid original and second duplicate of the certificate of origin, nor make supplementary declaration on whether the imported goods have the qualifications for origin of the Beneficiary Country when declaring the import of goods;
3. where the stamp of the Issuing Institution used by the certificate of origin is inconsistent with the filing materials with the customs;
4. where the goods listed in the certificate of origin is inconsistent with the actual imported goods;
5. where, within 180 days upon the date of receipt of the request for verification of the origin by the customs or Issuing Institution of the Beneficiary Country, the entry customs receive no reply or result from the customs or Issuing Institution of the Beneficiary Country, or such reply or result does not contain information sufficient to confirm the authenticity of the certificate of origin or the authentic origin of goods; or
6. where the consignee of imported goods or the agent thereof have any other activity that is inconsistent with the provisions hereof.

Article 24 Customs shall be obligated to keep in confidential any trade secret they have known under these Measures. Without the consent of the consignee of the imported goods, the customs may not divulge such trade secret or use it for purposes other than those provided herein, however, unless there is otherwise provided in laws, regulations and relevant judicial interpretations.

Article 25 Anyone who violates the Measures and constitutes smuggling or violation of the regulatory provisions of the Customs, or has any other activity in violation of the Customs Law shall be punished in accordance with the Customs Law and the Implementing Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Customs Administrative Penalties. If any crime is constituted, he shall be prosecuted for the criminal liabilities according to law.

Article 26 The following terms mentioned herein shall have the following meanings:
"Beneficiary Country" refers to a country or region that has exchanges official documents with China concerning the special preferential tariff treatment for the least developed countries.
"Materials" shall include the components, spare parts, constituent parts, semi-assembly and/or products that have been used in the production process of another product.
"Originating Materials" refer to the goods that have been used in the production process of another product and that have satisfied the requirements under the rules of origin as provided herein.
"Production" refers to the ways of obtaining goods, including planting, breeding, exploiting, harvesting, fishing, capturing, entrapping, manufacturing, producing, or processing or assembling.
"Agreement on Customs Valuation" refers to the Agreement on Implementation of Article 7 of GATT 1994 as part of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.

Article 27 The power to interpret these Measures shall vest into the General Administration of Customs.

Article 28 These Measures shall come into effect on July 1, 2010.