Promulgation Authorities:  General Administration of Customs

Promulgation Date:  2018.11.23

Effective Date:  2018.11.23

Validity Status:  valid

Administrative Measures for Inspection and Supervision of Imported Used Mechanical and Electrical Products (Revised in November 2018)

Administrative Measures for Inspection and Supervision of Imported Used Mechanical and Electrical Products (Revised in November 2018)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1    These Measures are enacted in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and its implementing rules, as well as the relevant provisions of bilateral or multilateral treaties and agreements and other documents of the treaty nature concluded or acceded to by the People's Republic of China, in order to regulate the administration of inspection and supervision of imported used mechanical and electrical products.

Article 2    These Measures apply to the administration of inspection and supervision of used mechanical and electrical products allowed to be imported by the State and sold and used within the territory of the People's Republic of China.

For the purpose of these Measures, the term "used mechanical and electrical products" refers to any of the following mechanical and electrical products:

(I) mechanical and electrical products which have been used (excluding the equipment that have been tested or debugged before use), but still have the basic functions and certain use value;

(II) mechanical and electrical products which have not been used, but whose quality guarantee period (not the warranty period) has expired;

(III) mechanical and electrical products which have not been used, but the parts of which have obvious physical depreciation due to the long storage time;

(IV) mechanical and electrical products with both new and used parts assembled; and

(V) mechanical and electrical products which have been renovated.

Article 3    The General Administration of Customs of China ("GACC") is in charge of the administration of inspection and supervision of imported used mechanical and electrical products nationwide.

Competent customs houses are responsible for the administration of inspection and supervision of imported used mechanical and electrical products within their respective jurisdictions.

Article 4    Imported used mechanical and electrical products shall conform to the provisions of laws and regulations on safety, sanitation, health, environmental protection, prevention of fraud, energy saving, etc., as well as the compulsory requirements of the technical specifications prescribed by the State.

Article 5    Imported used mechanical and electrical products shall be subject to port inspection, destination inspection and supervisory management. High-risk imported used mechanical and electrical products that have high value or are relate to personal and property safety, health and environment protection items shall also be subject to pre-shipment inspection.

The list of imported used mechanical and electrical products that are subject to pre-shipment inspection will be developed by the GACC and released on the website of the GACC.

Where the results from pre-shipment inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products are inconsistent with that from port inspection or destination inspection, the latter shall prevail.

Article 6    Importers of used mechanical and electrical products shall act in good faith and be responsible for the society and the public and shall assume the primary responsibility for the quality of used mechanical and electrical products they have imported.

Chapter II Pre-shipment Inspection

Article 7    For the imported used mechanical and electrical products that are subject to pre-shipment inspection, the consignees, consignors or the agents thereof shall, according to the relevant provisions of the GACC, apply to the competent customs offices for pre-shipment inspection or entrust inspection agencies with such inspection.

The GACC does not designate any inspection agencies to engage in the pre-shipment inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products.

A pre-shipment inspection shall be completed before the departure of goods.

Article 8    For an application filed by a consignee, consignor or the agent thereof for the pre-shipment inspection to a customs office, the customs office may, as actually needed, organize such inspection or send inspectors to participate in such inspection.

Article 9    Any pre-shipment inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products shall be carried out according to the compulsory requirements of the State.

The contents of a pre-shipment inspection shall include:

(I) to make the preliminary evaluation on the safety, sanitation, health, environmental protection, prevention of fraud, energy consumption and other items;

(II) to inspect whether the names, quantities, specifications (models), aging degrees and damage conditions of the products are consistent with the information listed in the contracts, invoices and other trade documents; and

(III) to inspect whether goods prohibited from import are included or carried secretly.

Article 10    Any inspection agency accepting an entrustment to carry out the pre-shipment inspection shall act in good faith and conduct the pre-shipment inspection in accordance with Article 9 hereof and the provisions of the GACC.

Article 11    After completing a pre-shipment inspection, the customs office or inspection agency concerned shall issue the certificate of pre-shipment inspection, with a report of pre-shipment inspection attached.

The inspection certificate and the attached inspection report shall conform to the following requirements:

(I) having accurate inspection bases, clear inspection conditions and authentic inspection results;

(II) having unified and traceable serial number;

(III) the inspection report shall contain the inspection basis, inspection objects, on- site inspection conditions, the pre-shipment inspection agency and signature of the authorized signatory and other requirements;

(IV) the imported used mechanical and electrical products shall not be included in the inspection certificates if the inspection results and handling opinions of such products in the inspection reports show that they fail to conform to provision in Article 4 hereof;

(V) the inspection certificate and the inspection report attached shall be in Chinese, and the Chinese version shall prevail if the certificate or report issued is in both Chinese and a foreign language; and

(VI) the inspection certificate shall have a specific valid period subject to the determination by the issuing authorities according to conditions of the imported used mechanical and electrical products, and the valid period is usually half a year or one year.

In addition to the above factors, the inspection certificate for a construction machine shall list the name, HS code, specification and model, place of production, engine number/vehicle frame number, manufacture date (year), performance period (hours), inspection report, maintenance record, examination of the instructions for use, etc. of the construction machine.

Chapter III Inspection of Imported Used Mechanical and Electrical Products

Article 12    After an imported used mechanical and electrical product arrives at a port, the consignee of such product or the agent thereof shall go through the formalities of inspection declaration with the customs office on the strength of the contract, invoice, packing list and bill of lading.

Article 13    The customs office at a port shall carry out an inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products arrived at the port.

When carrying out an inspection at the port, the customs office shall examine the documents for inspection declaration batch by batch. If necessary, an on-site inspection shall be conducted to confirm whether the imported used mechanical and electrical products conform to the submitted documents.

Other affairs relating to an inspection at the port are subject to the relevant provisions on inspections at ports.

Article 14    The customs office at a destination shall carry out an inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products at the destination.

Article 15    The contents of a destination inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products carried out by the customs office include: consistency verification and inspection of safety, sanitation, environmental protection and other items.

(I) consistency verification:

1. to examine whether there is any defect or damage in the appearance and package of the products;

2. to examine whether the names, specifications, models, quantities, places of production and other actual conditions of the products conform to the documents submitted for inspection and the results of the pre-shipment inspection; and

3. to conduct a random inspection of the actual use of the imported used mechanical and electrical products, focusing on examining whether the actual conditions of use of the used mechanical and electrical products imported under special modes of trade conform to the declared conditions.

(II) inspection of safety items:

1. to inspect whether there are surface defects, safety signs and warning signs of the products;

2. to inspect the electrical and mechanical safety of the products in the quiescent state; and

3. to inspect the electrical and mechanical safety of the products in the operating state as well as the reliability and stability of the equipment operation.

(III) inspection of sanitation and environmental protection items:

1. to inspect the sanitation of the products and whether the food processing machinery involving food safety and the household appliances conform to relevant compulsory standards;

2. to inspect whether the noise, dust content, radiation and emission of the products in the operating state conform to relevant standards; and

3. to inspect whether the products conform to the relevant limitation standards for energy efficiency of China.

(IV) to inspect the effectiveness of technical and rectification measures adopted for the non-conforming items found in a pre-shipment inspection, and inspect the items uncovered in the pre-shipment inspection; and if necessary, to conduct a random inspection of the items under the pre-shipment inspection; and

(V) The inspection of other items shall be carried out according to the relevant provisions on the inspection of the same type of mechanical and electrical products.

Article 16    Where any item involving personal and property safety, health or environment protection is not up to standard after the destination inspection, the customs office shall order the consignee to destroy or return the product; where other items are not up to standard, technical treatment may be conducted under the supervision of the customs office, and the product may not be sold or used until it has been up to standard after the re-inspection.

Where any imported used mechanical and electrical product which is not up to standard after the destination inspection is complete equipment and the materials thereof, the notice on installation and use prohibition shall be issued. Such product may not be installed and used until it has been up to standard after the re-inspection by the customs office after the technical treatment.

Chapter IV Supervision and Administration

Article 17    The customs offices supervise and administer the consignees of imported used mechanical and electrical products and the agents thereof, importers of used mechanical and electrical products and the agents thereof, pre-shipment inspection agencies and their relevant practices.

Article 18    Inspection agencies shall be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of the pre-shipment inspection certificates and the attached inspection reports issued thereby.

Where a customs office, in the supervision and administration of the inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products, finds that an inspection certificate and the attached inspection report issued by an inspection agency are in violation of Article 11 hereof, it may, if the case is serious or has caused serious consequences, issue a warning notice and decide not to recognize the inspection certificate and the attached inspection report issued by the inspection agency within a certain period of up to three years.

Article 19    Importers of the used mechanical and electrical products shall establish a record system for product import, sales and use to record the names, specifications and quantities of imported used mechanical and electrical products, the names and contact information of exporters and buyers, delivery date, etc. in a faithful manner. The records shall be authentic and kept for not less than two years.

A customs office may examine importers' records of import, sales and use within its jurisdiction.

Article 20    For any issue relating to quality safety which is discovered in the course of supervision and administration of the inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products, the customs office concerned shall deal with it according to the relevant provisions on risks warning and quick response.

Article 21    The staff members of a customs office are obliged to keep the trade secrets accessed by them in performing their duties of supervision and administration of the inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products.

In performing its duties of supervision and administration of the inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products, a customs office shall abide by the law, safeguard national interests, enforce laws in strict accordance with its statutory authority and legal procedures and subject it to the supervision.

Chapter V Legal Liability

Article 22    With regard to anyone who sells or uses, without authorization, the imported used mechanical and electrical products which have not been subject to inspection declaration or inspection, the customs office concerned shall confiscate the offender's illegal gains in accordance with the Implementing Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, and impose a fine of not less than 5% but not more than 20% of the value of the imported used mechanical and electrical products on the offender; if the case constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law.

Article 23    With regard to anyone who sells or uses the imported used mechanical and electrical products which are not up to standard after a statutory inspection, random inspection or verification, the customs office concerned shall, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, order the offender to stop selling or using such products and confiscate the offender's illegal gains and the imported used mechanical and electrical products illegally sold or used, and impose a fine of no less than the value of the imported used mechanical and electrical products but no more than three times of such value on the offender; if the case constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law.

Article 24    With regard to anyone who replaces, without authorization, the samples taken by the customs office concerned or the imported used mechanical and electrical products which are up to standard after the inspection of the customs office, the customs office shall, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, order the offender to make corrections and give a warning to it; if the case is serious, a fine of not less than 10% but not more than 50% of the value of the used mechanical and electrical products shall be imposed on the offender.

Article 25    With regard to any consignee, inspection declaration agent or inspection declaration personnel who obtain the relevant documents from a customs office, without providing the true information about the imported used mechanical and electrical products, or refuse to declare an inspection of the imported used mechanical and electrical products which are subject to statutory inspection in an attempt to avoid the inspection of such products, the customs office shall confiscate the offender's illegal gains in accordance with the Implementing Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and impose a fine of not less than 5% but not more than 20% of the value of the imported used mechanical and electrical products on the offender.

Article 26    Any imported used mechanical and electrical products that are allowed by China to be imported fail to undergo a pre-shipment inspection as required shall be returned in accordance with relevant provisions of the State; if the case is serious, the customs office concerned shall, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, impose a fine of not more than one million yuan on the offender.

Article 27    With regard to anyone who fabricates, alters, purchases, sells or steals of a pre-shipment inspection or an attached inspection report issued by a customs office or uses of a fabricated or altered pre-shipment inspection or an attached inspection report, and such practice constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law; if the case is not serious enough to be subject to criminal punishment, the customs office shall, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, order the offender to make corrections, confiscate the offender's illegal gains and impose a fine of no more than the value of the products on the offender.

Article 28    In performing their duties of supervision and administration of the inspection of imported used mechanical and electrical products, customs staff shall enforce the law impartially and be loyal to their duties, and shall not abuse their duties, neglects their duty, commit favoritism or malpractice; Those who violate the law by neglecting their duties shall be investigated for liability in accordance with the law.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 29    These Measures apply to the used mechanical and electrical products which are imported through special supervision zones.

Article 30    For animal and plant quarantine and health quarantine involved in the import of used mechanical and electrical products, the laws and regulations on the quarantine of imported and exported animals and plants and the frontier health quarantine shall apply.

Article 31    Any imported used mechanical and electrical product which is prohibited from import shall be returned or destroyed.

Article 32    The GACC is vested with the power to interpret these Measures.

Article 33    These Measures shall take effect on 1 January 2016, repealing simultaneously the Administrative Measures for Inspection and Supervision of Imported Used Mechanical and Electrical Products promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on 31 December 2002 and the Provisions on Supervision Procedures for Inspection of Imported Used Mechanical and Electrical Products promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on 18 August 2003.