Promulgation Authorities:  General Administration of Customs

Promulgation Date:  2018.11.23

Effective Date:  2018.11.23

Validity Status:  valid

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Amendment and Cancellation of Customs Declaration Forms for Imports and Exports (Revised in November 2018)

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Amendment and Cancellation of Customs Declaration Forms for Imports and Exports (Revised in November 2018)

Article 1 These Measures are formulated pursuant to the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Customs Law" for the purposes of strengthening administration on amendment and cancellation of Customs declaration forms for imports and exports, standardising declarations by consignees and consignors of imports and exports or their agents, and protecting their legitimate rights and interests.   

Article 2 These Measures shall apply to amendment or cancellation of Customs declaration forms for imports and exports by consignees and consignors of imports and exports or their agents (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "parties concerned"), as well as amendment or cancellation of Customs declaration forms for imports and exports required by the Customs.   

Article 3 Upon Customs acceptance of a declaration for imports or exports, Customs declaration documentation and the contents thereof shall not be amended or cancelled; under stipulated circumstances, amendment or cancellation may be made.   

Article 4 Amendment or cancellation of a Customs declaration form for imports or exports shall adhere to the principle of "priority be given to amendment"; the Customs declaration form for imports shall be cancelled if amendment is impossible.   

Article 5 Under any of the following circumstances, a party concerned may complete amendment or cancellation formalities for a Customs declaration form for imports or exports with the Customs which has accepted the declaration, unless otherwise stipulated by the Customs:   

(1) Upon Customs clearance for exports, there is a need to return all or part of the originally declared goods or change transportation vehicle thereof due to reasons such as shipping or loading;

(2) There is variation in quantity of imports or exports in the process of loading, transportation or storage, or there is loss or shortage etc due to a force majeure event, resulting in inconsistency between the originally declared data and the actual goods;

(3) There is a need for amendment or cancellation of Customs declaration form data due to processing of any other Customs formalities such as tax refund or payment of short-paid tax, and Customs affair guarantee;

(4) There is a need for amendment of declaration contents due to adoption of temporary transaction price and actual settlement based on quality inspection of commodities or actual international market price pursuant to trade practice;

(5) There is a need for amendment or cancellation of the original Customs declaration form for imports, for the purpose of processing direct return shipment formalities for declared imports; or

(6) There are electronic data declaration errors due to computer or network technical problems.

Article 6 Under the circumstances stipulated in Article 5 of these Measures, the party concerned shall submit an "Application Form for Amendment/Cancellation of Customs Declaration Forms for Imports and Exports" and the following materials to the Customs:   

(1) Under the circumstances stipulated in item (1) of Article 5, the proof materials for return of goods or change of transportation vehicle shall be submitted;

(2) Under the circumstances stipulated in item (2) of Article 5, the proof materials issued by the relevant authorities;

(3) Under the circumstances stipulated in item (3) of Article 5, the relevant materials endorsed with the Customs comments shall be submitted;

(4) Under the circumstances stipulated in item (4) of Article 5, documentation which can fully reflect the actual trade status such as invoice, contract, bill of lading or container manifest shall be submitted, and proof of payment in relation to sale and purchase of goods, as well as other commercial documentation and written materials proving that the declared price is true and accurate, shall be provided truthfully;

(5) Under the circumstances stipulated in item (5) of Article 5,

where the party concerned returns all or part of the cargo directly to the overseas party, the "Direct Return Shipment Form for Imports" shall be submitted; and

(6) Under the circumstances stipulated in item (6) of Article 5, proof materials issued by the computer or network operator and administrator shall be submitted.

Where the materials submitted by the party concerned to the Customs comply with the provisions of the first paragraph of this Article and are complete and valid, the Customs shall promptly process the amendment or cancellation.

Article 7 In the event of amendment or cancellation of declaration contents required as a result of operational or clerical error of the declarants, the party concerned shall submit an "Application Form for Amendment/Cancellation of Customs Declaration Forms for Imports and Exports" and the following materials to the Customs:   

(1) The relevant documentation or proof documents which can prove the actual status of the imports or exports such as contract, invoice, container manifest, bill of lading or manifest etc; and

(2) A detailed statement and the relevant proof materials.

Where the Customs find no circumvention of Customs supervision by the declarants, the Customs may amend or cancel the Customs declaration form. Where amendment or cancellation is not allowed, the Customs shall promptly notify the party concerned and state the reason.

Article 8 Where the Customs discover that there is a need for amendment or cancellation of a Customs declaration form for imports or exports, it may require the party concerned to make amendment or cancellation in the following ways:   

(1) Return the electronic Customs declaration form and state in details the reasons and requirements for amendment; the party concerned shall make the amendment required by the Customs and re-submit the Customs declaration form, and shall not amend other contents of the Customs declaration form; and

(2) Issue a "Notice of Confirmation of Amendment/Cancellation of Customs Declaration Forms for Imports and Exports" to the party concerned to notify the party concerned of the contents required to be amended or cancelled; the party concerned shall confirm the contents of the Customs declaration form for imports or exports to be amended or cancelled within five days; upon confirmation, the Customs shall process amendment or cancellation of the Customs declaration form.

Article 9 Except for force majeure events, under any of the following circumstances involving a party concerned, the Customs may cancel the corresponding electronic Customs declaration form directly:   

(1) The Customs have returned the electronic Customs declaration form for amendment but the party concerned fails to resubmit the form within the stipulated period;

(2) Upon Customs examination of the electronic Customs declaration form, the party concerned fails to submit the hard copy Customs declaration form within the stipulated period;

(3) Upon declaration, the exports are not shipped to the Customs supervision premises within the stipulated period; or

(4) Any other circumstances stipulated by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 10 In the case of imports and exports for which the Customs has decided on surveillance and inspection, as well as imports and exports which are suspected of smuggling or violate Customs regulatory provisions, amendment or cancellation of the Customs declaration form and its electronic data shall not be made prior to completion of the relevant formalities.   

Article 11 In terms of imports and exports for which a certification copy of the Customs declaration form has been issued, the party concerned shall return the certification copy of the Customs declaration form to the Customs at the time of processing amendment or cancellation formalities for the Customs declaration form.   

Article 12 Where there is a need to amend or reapply for an import or export licence due to amendment or cancellation of the Customs declaration form for imports or exports, the party concerned shall obtain the corresponding import or export licence. The Customs will conduct automatic system comparison and verification of the electronic data of the corresponding import or export licence.   

Article 13 Amendment and cancellation of filing lists for inbound and outbound goods shall be handled with reference to these Measures.   

Article 14 Violations of these Measures which constitute smuggling or violation of Customs regulatory provisions or other violation of the Customs Law shall be dealt with the Customs pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Customs Law and the Implementation Regulations of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalties; where the case constitutes a criminal offence, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.   

Article 15 The General Administration of Customs shall be responsible for interpretation of these Measures.   

Article 16 These Measures shall be implemented with effect from the date of promulgation, repealing simultaneously the Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Amendment and Cancellation of Customs Declaration Forms for Imports and Exports promulgated via General Administration of Customs Order No. 143 on 30 December 2005.