Promulgation Authorities:  General Administration of Customs

Promulgation Date:  2017.03.01

Effective Date:  2017.04.01

Validity Status:  valid

Document Number:  General Administration of Customs Order No. 231

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment (2017)

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment (2017)

General Administration of Customs Order No. 231

The Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment passed by the General Administration of Customs Meeting on 27 February 2017 is hereby promulgated and shall be implemented with effect from 1 April 2017. For goods imported from least developed countries which have established diplomatic relations with China, if such goods comply with the standards of the place of origin stipulated in these Measures, import declaration formalities may be completed with the Customs pursuant to the provisions of these Measures with effect from the date of promulgation, to entitle the goods to special tariff treatment.

The Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment promulgated on 28 June 2010 via General Administration of Customs Order No. 192, the Decision on Revision of the "Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment" promulgated on 1 July 2013 via General Administration of Customs Order No. 210 shall be repealed simultaneously.

1 March 2017

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment

Article 1    These Measures are formulated pursuant to the provisions of the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports and Exports for the purposes of proper determination of goods imported from places of origin entitled to special preferential tariff treatment, and promoting trade dealings between China and the relevant countries.

Article 2    These Measures shall apply to goods imported from least developed countries which have diplomatic relations with China (hereinafter referred to as the "favoured nations"), that are entitled to administration of place of origin for special preferential tariff treatment.

Article 3    Imports which satisfy any of the following criteria shall be deemed to originate from a favoured nation:

(1) Where the goods are obtained or produced entirely in a favoured nation;

(2) Where the goods are produced entirely in a favoured nation using raw materials which comply with the provisions of these Measures; or

(3) Where the goods are not obtained or produced entirely in a favoured nation, but the final substantive transformation stage of such goods is completed in the favoured nation.

"Substantive transformation" referred to in item (3) of the first paragraph of this Article shall be determined in accordance with the standards stipulated in Article 5 and Article 6 of these Measures.

Goods originated from a favoured nation which are transported directly from the favoured nation to China may apply, pursuant to the provisions of these Measures, to enjoy the corresponding preferential tariff rates in the Import and Export Tariffs of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Tariffs").

Article 4    Goods which are "obtained or produced entirely in a favoured nation" referred to in item (1) of the first paragraph of Article 3 of these Measures shall mean:

(1) Live animals born and bred in the favoured nation;

(2) Products derived from animals referred to in item (3) of this Article from the favoured nation;

(3) Plants and plant products obtained, harvested or collected from the favoured nation;

(4) Products derived by hunting or fishing from the favoured nation;

(5) Fish, crustaceans and other marine organisms caught by a vessel that is registered in the favoured nation and legitimately hoists the national flag of the favoured nation while fishing in offshore territorial seas for which the favoured nation has the right to develop pursuant to its domestics laws applied in accordance with the relevant international agreement to which it is a signatory;

(6) Products derived from processing of products mentioned in item (5) of this Article on a factory ship registered in the favoured nation and legitimately hoists the national flag of the favoured nation;

(7)  Minerals and other naturally occurring substances exploited or extracted in the said favoured nation, or goods other than fish, crustaceans and other marine organisms obtained or extracted offshore waters, seabed or beneath the seabed soil for which the favoured nation has the right to develop pursuant to its domestic laws applied in accordance with the relevant international agreement to which it is a signatory;

(8) Waste materials created in the course of consumption by a favoured nation and collected by the same favoured nation, which are only suited for the recycle of raw materials;

(9) Waste and scrap created in the course of any processing and manufacturing activity by the favoured nation, which are only suited for the recycle of raw materials; and

(10) Any other products obtained from the processing of products mentioned in items (1) to (9) of this Article in a favoured nation.

Article 5    Unless otherwise stipulated in the Rules on Specific Place of Origin for Products from Least Developed Nations which have Diplomatic Relations with China, products which are manufactured or processed in a favoured nation using raw materials not originated from the favoured nation shall be deemed as goods originated from the said favoured nation if there is a change in the four-digit tariff classification for such goods in the Tariffs.

For goods manufactured or processed using raw materials not originated from the favoured nation, where the non-originating raw materials used in the production do not comply with the provisions of the first paragraph of this Article, but the transaction price of the non-originating materials determined in accordance with the "Customs Valuation Agreement" does not exceed 10% of the price of the goods, and other applicable provisions of these Measures are complied with, such goods shall be deemed as originated from the favoured nation.

Article 6    Unless otherwise stipulated in the Rules on Specific Place of Origin for Products from Least Developed Nations which have Diplomatic Relations with China, where products manufactured in the territory of a favoured nation use materials not originated from the favoured nation and the ad valorem percentage is not less than 40% of the price of the goods, such products shall be deemed as originated from the favoured nation.

The ad valorem percentage referred to in the first paragraph of this Article shall be computed using the following formula:

ad valorem percentage = (price of goods ? price of non-originating materials) ÷ price for goods

"Price of goods" shall mean the price of goods adjusted on the basis of Free-on-board (FOB) price in accordance with the "Customs Valuation Agreement".

"Price of non-originating materials" shall include the importation costs of non-originating materials used by a manufacturer, and the insurance and freight cost for shipment to the destination port or venue (CIF), and include the price of materials from an unknown origin. Where the non-originating materials are obtained by a manufacturer in the favoured nation, the transaction price determined in accordance with the "Customs Valuation Agreement" shall exclude the freight charges, insurance, packaging fees and any other expenses arising from transportation from the supplier's warehouse to the location of the manufacturer.

Article 7    Where goods or materials originated from China which are used for manufacturing of other goods in a favoured nation, such goods or materials shall be deemed as originated from the favoured nation.

Where a favoured nation is a member of a specific regional group, when goods or materials originated from another favoured nation in the group are used for manufacturing of other goods in this favoured nation, the goods or materials originated from another favoured nation used may be deemed as goods or materials originated from this favoured nation.

Article 8    The following minor processing shall not affect determination of the place of origin:

(1) Processing carried out to ensure that the goods are kept in good condition during the transportation or storage period;

(2) assembly of parts into complete products, or simple assembly or disassembly of products into parts;

(3) change, splitting or combination of packaging;

(4) washing, cleaning, dust removal, removal of oxides, degreasing, removal of paint and removal of other coatings;

(5) ironing or pressing of textiles;

(6) simple painting and polishing process;

(7) milling, partial or complete bleaching, polishing or glazing of grains and rice;

(8) colouring or flavouring for sugar, or formation of sugar cubes; partial or complete grinding of crystal sugar;

(9) peeling, removal of kernel and shell for fruit, nuts and vegetables;

(10) sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;

(11) filtering, screening, selection, sorting, grading, matching (including combination of item sets), slitting, bending, winding and expanding;

(12) simple bottling, canning, potting, bagging, packing into boxes, fixing onto cardboard or wooden board and other simple packaging processes;

(13) pasting or printing of logo, label or mark and other similar distinguishing mark onto products or packaging thereof;

(14) simple mixing of same type or different types of products; mixing of sugar and other materials;

(15) testing or calibration;

(16) diluting with water or other substance which does not substantially alter the nature of the goods;

(17) drying, salinating (or soaking in salt), refrigerating or freezing;

(18) animal slaughter; and

(19) a combination of two or more processes stipulated in item (1) to item (18).

Article 9    In the case of complete sets of products which fall under General Rules III of the Tariffs, where all the products therein are originated from a particular favoured nation, the set shall be deemed originated from the favoured nation; where some products in a set are not originated from the favoured nation, but the price of non-originating goods computed in accordance with the percentage determined pursuant to Article 6 of these Measures does not exceed 15% of the price of a set of goods, the set of goods shall be deemed originated from the favoured nation.

Article 10    In the determination of origin of goods, the origin of the following materials or substance used in the manufacturing process of the goods, which neither constitute material composition of the goods nor form an integral part of the goods, shall not affect determination of origin of the goods:

(1) Fuel, energy, catalysts and solvents;

(2) Equipment, devices and supplies used for testing or inspection of the goods;

(3) Gloves, glasses, shoes and boots, clothing, safety equipment and supplies;

(4) Tools, dies and molds;

(5) Spare parts and materials used for maintenance of equipment and factory building;

(6) Lubricants, oil (grease), synthetic materials and other materials used in the manufacturing process or used by the operating equipment and used for maintenance of factory building; and

(7) Any other goods used in the manufacturing process of the goods, which do not constitute an integral part of the goods but can reasonably be shown to have participated in the manufacturing process of the goods.

Article 11    Where there is a change in the standards for tariff classification of the goods, when determining the origin of the goods, if separate invoices are not issued for the packaging, packaging materials and containers declared together with the goods for importation and classified together with the goods in the Tariffs, as well as the origin of the accessories, spare parts, tools and introductory and explanatory materials of normal apparatus, their origin shall not affect determination of origin of the goods.

Where the standards for ad valorem ratio are applicable to the goods, when computing value added ratio of the goods, the prices of the packaging, packaging materials and containers declared together with the goods for importation and classified together with the goods in the Tariffs, as well as the prices of the accessories, spare parts, tools and introductory and explanatory materials of normal apparatus, shall be computed.

Article 12    "Transported directly" referred to in these Measures shall mean that the goods originated from a favoured nation are directly transported to China without passing through any country or region other than China and the favoured nation on route (hereinafter referred to as "other countries or regions").

Where the goods originated from a favoured nation passed through any country or region on route to China satisfy all the following criteria, regardless if there is a change of transportation vehicle or temporary storage during the transportation, the goods shall be deemed as "transported directly":

(1) The goods have not entered into the trading or consumption sector of any other country or region;

(2) When passing through any country or region, the goods have not been subject to any other processing other than loading and unloading or other treatment required for keeping the goods in good condition; and

(3) The goods are under Customs supervision of the said country or region.

Under the circumstances stipulated in the second paragraph of this Article, the relevant goods should not stop over at such other country or region for more than six months.

Article 13    Where the Customs have evidence to prove that the imports have circumvented these Measures, the said imports shall not enjoy special preferential tariff treatment.

Article 14    Unless otherwise stipulated by the General Administration of Customs, a consignee of imports or its agent who makes a declaration for imports shall complete the "Customs Declaration Form of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for Imports" pursuant to the declaration provisions of the Customs within 14 days from declaration of entry of the transport vehicle into China, state the applicable preferential tariff rate, and submit the following documents:

(1) a valid Certificate of origin which complies with the provisions of these Measures (see Appendix 1 for format1) or a declaration of origin (see Appendix 2 for format);

(2) commercial invoice for the goods; and

(3) full set of transport documents for the goods.

Where the goods passed through any country or region on route to China, the proof documents issued by the Customs of such country or region or other proof documents recognised by the Customs shall also be submitted.

Where the Customs has received electronic data of the certificate of origin of the favoured nation and proof documents through the relevant information exchange system, the consignee of imports or its agent is not required to provide the corresponding hard copies for goods originated from the said favoured nation.

Where the transport documents stipulated in item (3) of the first paragraph of this Article submitted by the consignee of imports or its agent comply with the  relevant provisions on direct transport, the proof documents stipulated in the second paragraph of this Article are not required to be submitted.

Article 15    Unless otherwise stipulated by the General Administration of Customs, where the imports are declared to be originated from a favoured nation, and the consignee of imports or its agent has not submitted a valid certificate of origin or declaration of origin at the time of declaration of imports, or the Customs has not received the electronic data stipulated in the third paragraph of Article 14, the consignee of imports or its agent shall, prior to clearance of the goods, make a supplementary declaration to the Customs with respect to whether such imports possess originating status of the favoured nation (see Appendix 3 for format).

Where the consignee of imports or its agent has made a supplementary declaration that the said imports possess originating status pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph and provided the corresponding tax guarantee pursuant to the law, the Customs shall process import formalities pursuant to the provisions, except where the laws and regulations stipulate that tax guarantee shall not be allowed. Where a tax guarantee equivalent to the maximum tax amount bearable by the goods has been provided due to early clearance etc, the consignee of imports or its agent may not be required to provide a tax guarantee solely for whether the goods possess originating status.

Where the consignee of imports or its agent has not made a declaration for the imports pursuant to the relevant provisions, or the consignee of imports or its agent has not stated at the time of declaration of the imports that the preferential tariff in the Tariffs is applicable, and has not made a supplementary declaration that the said imports possess originating status pursuant to the provisions of this Article, the preferential tariff in the Tariffs shall not apply to the relevant imports.

Where the consignee of imports or its agent applies, after clearance of the goods, to the Customs for application of preferential tariff in the Tariffs, the tax levied shall not be adjusted.

Article 16    The valid certificate of origin submitted by the consignee of imports or its agent to the Customs shall satisfy all the following criteria:

(1) it is issued by the issuing authority designated by the government of the favoured nation within five days from the date of exportation of the goods;

(2) it complies with the format set out in Appendix 1 of these Measures and is completed in English;

(3) the seal complies with the seal specimen of the favoured nation lodged with the Chinese Customs, and complies with the safety requirements of the Customs or the port authorities for seal and signatures to match;

(4) the goods set out in one or multiple items are the same batch of imports;

(5) there are non-repetitive valid certificate of origin serial numbers; and

(6) it states the basis for determining that the goods possess originating status.

A certificate of origin shall be valid for one year from the date of issue.

Article 17    Where the Customs has made a ruling on place of origin pursuant to the law as per the application of the consignee of imports or its agent, confirming that the imports are   originated from a favoured nation, if the ruling is still valid and there is no change to the basis and facts for making of the ruling, the consignee of imports or its agent may, at the time of importation of the goods under the said ruling, submit a declaration of origin to the Customs and state that the preferential tariff in the Tariffs is applicable.

The declaration of origin submitted by the consignee of imports or its agent to the Customs shall satisfy all the following criteria:

(1) comply with the format set out in Appendix 2 of these Measures, and is completed in Chinese;

(2) printed and completed by the consignee of imports or its agent and signed properly; and

(3) each declaration of origin shall correspond to one ruling.

The said declaration shall be valid within one year from the date of signing.

Article 18    Where the Customs have doubts over the veracity of a certificate of origin or whether the goods are originated from the relevant favoured nation or comply with other provisions of these Measures, the General Administration of Customs may submit a request for verification, directly or through the Economic and Commercial Section of the China Embassy or Consulate based in the favoured nation, to the Customs of the favoured nation or the issuing authority of certificate of origin, and request for a reply to be made within 180 days from receipt of the request for verification. Where necessary, upon consent by the relevant authority of the favoured nation, the General Administration of Customs may assign officers to visit the locality of the exporter or manufacturer of the favoured nation, and conduct onsite study of the verification procedures of the favoured nation's authorities in charge.

Where the Customs has doubts over the declaration of origin submitted by the consignee of imports or its agent, the Customs may investigate into the consignee of imports or its agent who makes the declaration of origin, the consignee of imports or its agent being investigated shall submit a written reply to the Customs within 180 days from receipt of the request for investigation.

Where a reply is not received within the aforesaid period, preferential tariff rates shall not apply to the goods.

While awaiting for the verification findings on certificate of origin from the favoured nation, the Customs may, based on the application of the consignee of imports or its agent, clear the goods upon selection of the applicable favoured nation tariff rate, normal tariff rate or other tariff rate for the goods pursuant to the law and upon collection of the equivalent amount of tax guarantee, process import formalities pursuant to the provisions and compile Customs statistics. Upon completion of verification, the Customs shall, based on the verification findings, forthwith refund the tax guarantee or convert the tax guarantee to import tax, and make corresponding amendment to the Customs statistical data.

In the case of restricted imports or suspected illegal imports, the Customs shall not clear the goods prior to completion of verification of certificate of origin.

Article 19    Under any of the following circumstances, within one year from importation of the goods, the consignee of imports or its agent may apply to the Customs for lifting of tax guarantee within the guarantee period approved by the Customs:

(1) the consignee of imports or its agent has made a supplementary declaration to the Customs pursuant to the provisions of these Measures and submitted the valid certificate of origin and declaration of origin or proof documents stipulated in Article 14 of these Measures; or

(2) the Customs has received the electronic data stipulated in item (1) of the first paragraph and second paragraph of Article 14 of these Measures.

Article 20    Where the dutiable price assessed by the Customs pursuant to the law for the same batch of imports originated from a favoured nation does not exceed RMB6,000, it is not required to submit the valid certificate of origin or declaration of origin.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to single or multiple instances of importation of goods for the purpose of circumvention of the provisions of these Measures.

Article 21    Where an unused certificate of origin is stolen, lost or mutilated, and has not been used, the consignee of imports or its agent may require the exporter of the said goods to request for a certified true copy of certificate of origin issued by the original issuing authority of the favoured nation within the validity period of the original certificate. The duplicate copy shall state the English words "certified true copy of the original certificate of origin (serial number _____ date _____)" in the remarks column. Upon submission of the verified duplicate copy to the certificate of origin, the original certificate of origin shall become void. Where the original certificate of origin has been used, the certified true copy of the certificate of origin shall become void.

Article 22    Under any of the following circumstances, a replacement of the certificate of origin may be issued within one year from exportation of the goods:

(1) Where the certificate of origin is not issued within five days from the date of exportation due to force majeure; or

(2) Where the authorised agency has issued the certificate of origin, but the certificate of origin is not accepted by the Customs due to non-compliance with the provisions of Article 16 of these Measures.

The replacement certificate of origin shall state the word "replacement". Under the circumstances set out in item (1) of the first paragraph of this Article, the replacement certificate shall be valid within one year from the date of actual exportation of the goods; under the circumstances set out in item (2) of the first paragraph of this Article, the validity period of the replacement certificate shall be the same as the validity period of the original certificate of origin.

Article 23    Under any of the following circumstances, the preferential tariff rates shall not apply to the imports:

(1) the imports do not possess originating status of a favoured nation;

(2) At the time of declaration of import, the consignee of the imports or its agent has not submitted a valid original certificate of origin or declaration of origin pursuant to the provisions of Article 14 of these Measures, and has not made a supplementary declaration on whether the imports possess originating status of a favoured nation;

(3) the certificate of origin or declaration of origin does not comply with the provisions of these Measures;

(4) the goods set out in the certificate of origin are inconsistent with the actual imports;

(5) within 180 days from receipt of the request for verification of origin by the favoured nation's Customs or the issuing authorities, the Customs has not received the reply from the favoured nation's Customs or the issuing authorities, or the reply does not contain adequate information to determine the veracity of the certificate of origin or the origin of the goods; or

(6) within 180 days from receipt of the request for verification of origin by the consignee of the imports or its agent, the Customs has not received the reply from the consignee of the imports or its agent, or the reply does not contain adequate information to determine the veracity of the certificate of origin or the origin of the goods; or

(7) the consignee of the imports or its agent has committed an act which is non-compliant with the relevant provisions of these Measures.

Article 24    The Customs shall have a duty of confidence for all commercial secrets obtained pursuant to the provisions of these Measures. Without the consent of the consignee, the Customs shall not disclose the commercial secrets or use them for other purposes, unless otherwise provided by the laws, administrative regulations and the relevant judicial interpretations.

Article 25    Acts in violation of the provisions in these Measures that constitute smuggling or violation of Customs regulations shall be dealt with by the Customs pursuant to the provisions of the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China and the Implementation Regulations of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalties and the relevant laws and administrative regulations; where the case constitutes a criminal offence, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

Article 26    The following terms used in these Measures shall be defined as follows:

A "favoured nation" shall mean a least developed country or region that has entered into reciprocal preferential tariff arrangements with China;

"Materials" shall mean goods which physically constitute components of other goods or which have been used in the production process of other goods, including any parts, semi-assembled parts, components, ingredients and original materials;

"Originating materials" shall mean materials which possess originating status stipulated in these Measures;

"Production" shall mean the method of obtaining the goods, including planting, breeding, extracting, harvesting, collecting, exploiting, obtaining, fishing, trapping, hunting, manufacturing, processing or assembly; and

"Customs valuation agreement" shall mean the Agreement on Performing Article 7 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 being a part of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation.

Article 27    The Rules on Specific Place of Origin for Products from Least Developed Nations which have Diplomatic Relations with China and list of regional groups mentioned in these Measures shall be separately announced by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 28    The General Administration of Customs shall be responsible for interpretation of these Measures.

Article 29    These Measures shall be implemented with effect from 1 April 2017. The Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment promulgated on 28 June 2010 via General Administration of Customs Order No. 192, the Decision on Revision of the "Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports from Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment" promulgated on 1 July 2013 via General Administration of Customs Order No. 210 shall be repealed simultaneously.