Promulgation Authorities:  General Administration of Customs

Promulgation Date:  2020.12.21

Effective Date:  2021.03.01

Validity Status:  valid

Document Number:  Decree No.245 of the General Administration of Customs

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Duty Reduction and Exemption for Imports and Exports (2020)

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Duty Reduction and Exemption for Imports and Exports (2020)

Decree No.245 of the General Administration of Customs

The Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Duty Reduction and Exemption for Imports and Exports, adopted upon deliberation at the executive meeting of the General Administration of Customs on December 11, 2020, are hereby promulgated, effective March 1, 2021. The Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Duty Reduction and Exemption for Imports and Exports (Decree No.179 of the General Administration of Customs) promulgated by the General Administration of Customs on December 29, 2008 shall be repealed simultaneously.

Ni Yuefeng

Director General of the General Administration of Customs

December 21, 2020

Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Duty Reduction and Exemption for Imports and Exports(2020)

Chapter 1 General Principles

Article 1    These Measures are enacted pursuant to the provisions of the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Customs Law"), the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Duties and the relevant laws and administrative regulations for the purposes of standardising administration of duty reduction and exemption for imports and exports by the Customs, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of administrative counterparts, and optimising business environment.

Article 2    Unless otherwise stipulated by laws and administrative regulations, the Customs shall carry out administration of reduction or exemption of tariffs and import-linked duties on imports and exports (hereinafter referred to as the "duty reduction or exemption") pursuant to the provisions of these Measures.

Article 3    An applicant applying for duty reduction or exemption for import and export goods (hereinafter referred to as the "duty reduction or exemption applicant") shall apply to the competent customs office to go through relevant business such as the examination and confirmation of duty reduction or exemption, the duty guarantee for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption and the follow-up administration of such goods.

An applicant for duty reduction or exemption applying to the competent customs office for duty reduction or exemption shall submit complete, valid and standardised application materials pursuant to the provisions, and bear the corresponding legal liability for the veracity, accuracy, integrity and standardisation of the materials.

Chapter 2 Examination and Confirmation of Duty Reduction or Exemption

Article 4    An applicant for duty reduction or exemption for importation and exportation of the relevant goods pursuant to the provisions of the relevant import and export duty incentive policies shall, prior to declaration of imports or exports, obtain proof materials for its entitlement to import and export duty incentive policies stipulated by the relevant policies, and present the following materials to apply to the competent customs office for processing of examination and approval and confirmation for duty reduction or exemption:

(I) an "Application Form for Levying or Exemption of Duty on Imports and Exports";

(II) the proof materials such as the legal person certificate of a public institution or establishment document of a State agency, the legal person registration certificate of a social organisation, the legal person registration certificate of a private non-enterprise organisation, or the legal person certificate of a foundation; and

(III) import or export contract, invoice and product information on the relevant goods.

Article 5    The competent customs office shall, within ten working days of the date on which the application for the examination and confirmation of the duty reduction or exemption is accepted, examine whether the qualification of the duty reduction or exemption applicant, the relevant particulars of the investment project and imported and exported goods comply with the provisions of the relevant preferential policy on import and export duty and other circumstances, issue its confirmation opinions on the levying, reduction or exemption of duty on imported and exported goods and prepare the Notice of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on the Confirmation Notice for the Levy or Exemption of Duty on Imported and Exported Goods (hereinafter referred to as the Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption ).

Where, under either of the following circumstances, the competent customs office is unable to issue a confirmation opinion within the time limit prescribed in Paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall inform the duty reduction or exemption applicant of any reason therefore:

(I) there is no specific provisions of the relevant import and export duty preferential policies or the management duties of other departments are involved, thus it is necessary to further consult and verify relevant information with relevant departments; and

(II) the goods need to be tested, appraise, etc., to determine whether they comply with the relevant import and export tax preferential policies.

Under any of the circumstances stipulated in Paragraph 2 of this Article, the competent customs office shall, within 10 working days from the date on which any such circumstance is removed, issue the confirmation opinions for levying, reducing or exempting the import and export goods from duty and prepare the Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption .

Article 6    Where the duty reduction or exemption applicant needs to change or revoke the issued Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption , it shall file an application with the competent customs office within the period of validity of the Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption  and attach the relevant materials.

Where the application is examined and found to comply with the provisions, the competent customs office shall process the change or cancellation. Where the change is approved, the competent customs office shall re-prepare a Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption.

Article 7    Where the validity period of a Confirmation Notice for Levy or Exemption of shall not exceed six months, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall go through the relevant formalities for imports and exports with the Customs at the place of declaration during the validity period; where the applicant is unable to go through the relevant formalities for imports and exports within the validity period and an extension of time is required, it shall apply to the competent customs office for extension of time within the validity period. A Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption may be extended once, provided that the extension shall not exceed six months.

Where a Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption has not been used at the expiration of its validity period, it shall cease to be valid. The applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall re-apply to the competent customs office for processing of examination and approval formalities for duty reduction or exemption if it needs to import or export the goods listed in the Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption under duty reduction or exemption.

Article 8    Unless otherwise stipulated by the relevant import and export duty incentive policies or implementation measures thereof, the Customs will not process a new application for examination and approval formalities for duty reduction or exemption by an applicant for duty reduction or exemption, after levying of duty on the imports or exports and granting clearance.

Chapter 3 Duty Security for Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption

Article 9    Under any of the following circumstances, an applicant for duty reduction or exemption may apply to the Customs for processing of formalities for clearance of the relevant goods based on a duty guarantee:

(I) where the relevant import and export duty incentive policies or implementation measures thereof are clearly stipulated;

(II) where the application for examination and approval of duty reduction or exemption has been accepted by the competent customs office, and is being processed;

(III) where the relevant import and export duty incentive policies have been approved by the State Council, the detailed implementation measures are yet to be specified, and the competent customs office is able to confirm that the applicant for duty reduction or exemption falls under the scope of entitlement to the policies; or

(IV) any other circumstances approved by the General Administration of Customs ("GAC").

Article 10    Where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption needs to go through formalities for clearance of the relevant goods based on a duty guarantee, it shall submit an application to the competent customs office before making declaration for the imports or exports, with the relevant materials accompanied.

The competent customs office shall issue an opinion on whether approval for the guarantee is granted, within five working days from the date of acceptance of the application. Where the application falls under the circumstances stipulated in Article 9 hereof, the competent customs office shall issue a Notice of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Approval for Duty Guarantee for Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption (hereinafter referred to as the Notice of Approval for Guarantee), and notify the customs office at the place of declaration; where the application does not satisfy the relevant provisions, a Notice of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Non-approval for Duty Guarantee for Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption shall be issued.

Article 11    The Customs at the place of declaration shall process duty guarantee formalities for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption pursuant to the provisions, based on the Notice of Approval for Guarantee issued by the competent customs office, as well as properties and rights recognised by the Customs pursuant to the law and provided by the applicant for duty reduction or exemption.

Article 12    Duty guarantee period for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption stated in the Notice of Approval for Guarantee shall not exceed six months; the competent customs office may extend the period once, provided that the extension does not exceed six months. Where there is still a need for extension of time under special circumstances, the examination and approval of the Customs district directly under the GAC shall be obtained.

Where the relevant circumstances stipulated in Article 9 hereof continue to exist upon expiry of the duty guarantee period for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, the competent customs office may extend the duty guarantee period correspondingly in accordance with the possible extension of the relevant circumstances, etc., and notify the applicant for duty reduction or exemption of the relevant information, and simultaneously notify the Customs at the place of declaration to process formalities for extension of duty guarantee period for the applicant for duty reduction or exemption.

Article 13    Where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption has obtained a Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption before expiry of the duty guarantee period for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, and has completed the relevant formalities for levying, reduction or exemption of duty with the Customs, the Customs at the place of declaration shall discharge the duty guarantee.

Chapter 4 Administration of Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption

Article 14    Unless otherwise stipulated by the GAC, the regulatory period for importation of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption are as follows:

(I) vessels, airplanes: eight years;

(II) motor vehicles: six years; and

(III) other goods: three years.

The regulatory period shall commence from the date of import clearance.

Unless otherwise stipulated by the GAC, during the regulatory period of the Customs, an applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall safekeep and use imports entitled to duty reduction or exemption pursuant to the provisions of the Customs, and accept regulation by the Customs pursuant to the law.

Article 15    During the regulatory period of the Customs, an applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall submit a Report on Use of Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption to the competent customs office before 30 June every year (including 30 June) to report the use of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption. Where the report is not submitted within the stipulated period, the Customs will include the applicant in the list of those with abnormal creditworthiness information pursuant to the relevant provisions.

The Customs will not accept the application for examination and approval and confirmation of duty reduction or exemption, duty guarantee for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, follow-up administration of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption etc. filed by an applicant for duty reduction or exemption who has failed to report the use of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph applies to the Customs, and it may accept the application upon retrospective declaration by the applicant for duty reduction or exemption.

Article 16    During the regulatory period of the Customs, the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall be used at venues examined and approved by the competent customs office. Unless the relevant measures for implementation of import duty incentive policies stipulate otherwise, where there is a need to change the venue of use of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall submit an application to the competent customs office, stating the reason; upon examination and approval of the competent customs office, the venue may be changed.

Where there is a need to move the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption outside the jurisdiction of the competent customs office for use, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall apply to the competent customs office for completion of regulation formalities at a new place, with the relevant materials attached. Upon examination and approval of the competent customs office and notification to the Customs at the new place of acceptance of transfer, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption may ship the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to the jurisdiction of the Customs at the new place, and accept regulation by the Customs at the new place.

Where the use of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption is completed at the new place, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall promptly apply to the Customs at the new place for completing of formalities for termination of regulation at the new place. Upon examination and approval of the Customs at the new place and notification to the competent customs office, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall ship the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption back to the jurisdiction of the competent customs office.

Article 17    During the regulatory period of the Customs, where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption undergoes division, merger, change of shareholders, restructuring, etc., the successor of rights and obligations shall report the entity change and the relevant information of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to the competent customs office which governs the original applicant for duty reduction or exemption within 30 days from the date of change registration.

Upon examination by the competent customs office which governs the original applicant for duty reduction or exemption, where there is a need for retrospective levying of duties, the successor of rights and obligations shall make retrospective duty payment to the competent customs office which governs the original applicant for duty reduction or exemption; where the successor of rights and obligations may continue to enjoy the duty reduction or exemption incentives, it shall apply for completing of the relevant formalities such as transfer of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, etc. pursuant to the provisions.

Article 18    During the regulatory period of the Customs, where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption is terminated due to bankruptcy, revocation, dissolution, restructuring or under any other circumstances, and there is a successor of rights and obligations, the relevant formalities shall be completed with reference to the provisions of Article 17 hereof; in the absence of successor of rights and obligations, the original applicant for duty reduction or exemption or any other party concerned which bears the obligations of payment of duty and import-linked duties pursuant to the law shall apply to the competent customs office which governs the original applicant for duty reduction or exemption, within 30 days from the date of liquidation of assets, for completing of formalities for retrospective duty payment for the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption. Where there is a need to apply for a permit retrospectively pursuant to the relevant provisions of the State for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for which the permit is exempted at the time of completing of formalities for retrospective duty payment, the relevant permit shall also be submitted retrospectively. The relevant goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall cease to be subject to supervision by the Customs with effect from the date of completion of the aforesaid formalities.

Article 19    During the regulatory period of the Customs, where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption requests to return the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to the overseas source or to export the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, the relevant formalities shall be completed upon examination and approval by the competent customs office.

The goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall cease to be subject to supervision by the Customs with effect from the date of return to the overseas source or exportation of such goods, and the Customs will not levy the relevant duties retrospectively for the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption which have been returned to the overseas source or exported.

Article 20    Upon expiry of the regulatory period of the Customs for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, regulation shall be ceased automatically.

Where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption requests for lifting in advance of regulatory measures over goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption within the regulatory period of the Customs, it shall submit an application to the competent customs office, and complete formalities for retrospective duty payment. Where there is a need to apply for a permit retrospectively pursuant to the relevant provisions of the State for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for which the permit is exempted at the time of import, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall also submit the relevant permit retrospectively at the time of completing of formalities for retrospective duty payment. The relevant goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall cease to be subject to supervision by the Customs with effect from the date of completion of the aforesaid formalities.

An applicant for duty reduction or exemption may, within one year from the date of lifting of regulatory measures over goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, apply to the competent customs office for a Certificate of the Customs of the People's Republic of China of Lifting of Regulatory Measures over Imports Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption.

Article 21    During the regulatory period of the Customs and a three-year period thereafter, the Customs will implement inspection on importation and use of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption by the relevant enterprises and organisations, pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Customs Law, the Inspection Rules of the Customs of the People's Republic of China, etc.

Chapter 5 Mortgage, Transfer and Use for other Purpose of the Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption

Article 22    During the regulatory period of the Customs for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, upon examination and approval of the competent customs office and completing of the relevant formalities, an applicant for duty reduction or exemption may mortgage, transfer, use the goods for other purposes or dispose of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption.

Article 23    During the regulatory period of the Customs, for the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption which are exempted from submission of permit at the time of importation, where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption applies to the competent customs office for completing of formalities for mortgage, transfer, use of such goods for other purposes or disposal of such goods, it shall go through the relevant formalities retrospectively if such permit is required to be obtained retrospectively pursuant to the relevant provisions of the State.

Article 24    During the regulatory period of the Customs, where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption requests to pledge the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to a bank or a non-bank financial institution for mortgage loan, it shall submit an application to the competent customs office, with the relevant materials attached, and provide duty guarantee using properties or rights recognised by the Customs pursuant to the law.

The competent customs office shall examine whether the application materials submitted by the applicant for duty reduction or exemption are complete and valid, whether the forms are filled in pursuant to the requirements, etc., and may take up an on-site understanding of the relevant information such as the business status of the applicant for duty reduction or exemption, the use of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, etc., if necessary. Where the application is examined and found to comply with the provisions, the competent customs office shall issue a Notice of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Approval for Processing of Pledge of Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption for Mortgage Loan; where the application does not comply with the provisions, a Notice of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Non-approval for Processing of Pledge of Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption for Mortgage Loan shall be issued.

The applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall not pledge the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to a natural person, legal person or non-legal person organisation other than a bank or a non-bank financial institution for mortgage loan.

Article 25    Where the competent customs office grants approval for pledge of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for mortgage loan, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall submit the mortgage contract and loan contract to the competent customs office for filing, within 30 days from the date of execution of the mortgage contract and loan contract.

Where the mortgage contract and the loan contract are not executed on the same day, the filing deadline stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall be based on the later date of execution.

Article 26    Where there is a need to extend a mortgage loan with respect to the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall apply to the competent customs office for completing of formalities for extension of mortgage loan before expiry of the mortgage period for the loan.

Where the application is examined and found to comply with the provisions, the competent customs office shall issue a Notice of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Approval for Extension of Time for Pledge of Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption for Mortgage Loan; where the application does not comply with the provisions, a Notice of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Non-approval for Extension of Time for Pledge of Goods Entitled to Duty Reduction or Exemption for Mortgage Loan shall be issued.

Article 27    Where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption needs to transfer the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to other organisation which imports the same goods under the same duty reduction or exemption incentives during the regulatory period of the Customs, it shall complete the formalities for transfer of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, pursuant to the following provisions:

(I) The applicant who intends to transfer the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall submit an application to the competent customs office at the place of transfer, with the relevant materials attached. The competent customs office at the place of transfer shall, upon examination and approval, notify the competent customs office at the place of acceptance of transfer.

(II) The applicant who intends to accept the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall apply to the competent customs office at the place of acceptance of transfer for completing of examination and approval and confirmation formalities for duty reduction or exemption. The competent customs office at the place of acceptance of transfer shall, upon examination and approval, prepare a Confirmation Notice of Duty Levy or Exemption.

(III) The regulatory period for the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption which are transferred shall be computed continuously; the competent customs office at the place of acceptance of transfer shall, within the remaining regulatory period, continue to implement follow-up regulation over the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption which are transferred.

Where the Customs at the place of acceptance of transfer and the Customs at the place of transfer are the same one, the provisions of the first paragraph of this Article shall apply.

Article 28    Where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption needs to transfer the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to other organisation which does not enjoy import duty incentive policies or other organisation which imports the same goods but does not enjoy the same duty reduction or exemption incentives during the regulatory period of the Customs, it shall apply beforehand to the competent customs office for competing of formalities for retrospective payment of duties for the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption. Where it is necessary to apply for a permit retrospectively pursuant to the relevant provisions of the State for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption which are exempted from submission of permit at the time of importation, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall also submit the relevant permit retrospectively at the time of completing of formalities for retrospective payment of duties. The relevant goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall be released from regulatory measures by the Customs with effect from the date of completion of the aforesaid formalities.

Article 29    Where there is a need for retrospective levying of duties for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption due to transfer, premature lifting of regulatory measures, change of entity or termination pursuant to the law of the applicant for duty reduction or exemption or any other reason, the dutiable value for retrospective levying of duties shall be based on the dutiable value at the time of original importation of the goods, and depreciation shall be made in accordance with the ratio of the period elapsed since importation of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to the regulatory period, and shall be computed under the following formula:

Dutiable value for retrospective levying of duties = dutiable value at the time of original importation of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption ×

The period elapsed since importation of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption shall be computed on a monthly basis with effect from the date of clearance of the goods. Where the period is less than one month but exceeds 15 days, it shall be deemed as a month; where the period is less than 15 days, it shall not be deemed for computation purpose.

Article 30    Where the dutiable value for retrospective payment of duties for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption is computed pursuant to the provisions of Article 29 hereof, the cut-off date for the period elapsed since importation of the goods shall be determined as follows:

(I) in the case of transfer of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption, the cut-off date shall be the date on which the competent customs office accepts the application by the applicant for duty reduction or exemption for completing of formalities for retrospective duty payment;

(II) where the applicant for duty reduction or exemption has transferred goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption without approval of the Customs, the cut-off date shall be the date of actual transfer of the goods; where it is impossible to determine the date of actual transfer, the cut-off date shall be the date on which the Customs makes the discovery;

(III) where there is a change of entity change of the applicant for duty reduction or exemption during the regulatory period of the Customs, the cut-off date shall be the date of change of registration;

(IV) where the applicant for duty reduction or exemption encounters bankruptcy, revocation, dissolution or any other circumstances of lawful termination of operation during the regulatory period of the Customs, the cut-off date shall be the date on which a People's Court declares the applicant for duty reduction or exemption bankrupt or the applicant for duty reduction or exemption is found pursuant to the law to have terminated production and business activities; and

(V) where regulatory measures for goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption are lifted prematurely, the cut-off date shall be the date on which the competent customs office accepts the application by the applicant for duty reduction or exemption for completing of formalities for retrospective duty payment.

Article 31    Where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption needs to use the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for other purposes during the regulatory period of the Customs, it shall apply to the competent customs office beforehand. Upon examination and approval of the competent customs office, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption may use the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for other purposes according to the entity, purpose of use and region approved by the Customs.

Use for other purposes as referred to in the first paragraph of this Article shall include the following circumstances:

(I) use of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption by an organisation other than the applicant for duty reduction or exemption;

(II) use of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for purposes other than the predetermined purposes; and

(III) use of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for regions other than the predetermined regions.

Unless otherwise stipulated by the GAC, where the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption are used for other purposes pursuant to the provisions of the first paragraph of this Article, the applicant for duty reduction or exemption shall make retrospective payment in advance of the corresponding duties in accordance with the period in which the goods are used for other purposes; where the period in which the goods are used for other purposes cannot be determined, duty guarantee shall be provided and the duty guarantee amount shall not exceed the maximum total duty amount which may be retrospective payable for the remaining regulatory period for the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption.

Article 32    Where an applicant for duty reduction or exemption has used the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption for other purposes and is required to make retrospective payment of duties, the dutiable value for retrospective payment of duties shall be based on the dutiable value at the time of original importation of the goods, and depreciation shall be made in accordance with the ratio of the period in which retrospective payment of duties is required to the regulatory period, and shall be computed according to the following formula:

Dutiable value for retrospective payment of duties = Dutiable value at the time of original importation of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption ×

The period for which retrospective payment of duties is required in the aforesaid computation formula shall be the actual period in which the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption are used for other purposes, and shall be computed on a daily basis; a day of actual use which is less than eight hours or more than eight hours is counted as one day.

Article 33    The Customs shall, when processing follow-up administration of goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption such as mortgage or transfer of goods, use of goods for other purposes, regulation at a different locality, change of entity, return of shipment or export, premature lifting of regulatory measures, etc., make a decision on approval or non-approval within 10 working days from the date of acceptance of the application by the applicant for duty reduction or exemption.

Where a decision cannot be made within the period stipulated in the preceding paragraph due to special circumstances, the Customs shall notify the applicant of the reason and make a decision on approval or non-approval within 10 working days from the date of elimination of special circumstances.

Chapter 6 Supplemental Provisions

Article 34    During the regulatory period of the Customs, in the case that an applicant for duty reduction or exemption encounters circumstances for entity change such as division, merger, change of shareholders, restructuring, etc., or is terminated due to bankruptcy, revocation, dissolution, restructuring or any other circumstances, if the parties concerned failed to report the circumstances for entity change or termination and the relevant information of the goods entitled to duty reduction or exemption to the competent customs office which governs the original applicant for duty reduction or exemption pursuant to the relevant provisions, the Customs will issue a warning and order to make correction, and may impose a fine of not more than 10,000 yuan.

Article 35    The following terms used herein these Measures sare defined as follows:

An applicant for duty reduction or exemption for imports or exports shall mean an enterprise, an institution, a social organisation, a private non-enterprise organisation, a fund or a State agency with independent legal person status which is entitle to import and export duty incentives pursuant to the provisions of the relevant import and export duty incentive policies and the relevant laws and administrative regulations, and has applied to the Customs for completing of the relevant businesses for duty reduction or exemption pursuant to these Measures; a non-legal person branch of the investor in a project which is authorised by the investor and approved by the competent customs office at the location of the investment project determined pursuant to the provisions of this Article to apply to the competent customs office for completing of the relevant businesses for duty reduction or exemption; or any other organisation determined by the GAC.

As to the competent customs office which governs the applicant for duty reduction or exemption, if  an applicant for duty reduction or exemption is an enterprise with legal person capacity, the competent customs office shall mean the Customs at the place of enterprise registration as a legal person; if an applicant for duty reduction or exemption is a non-enterprise organisation with legal person capacity such as a public institution, a social organisation, a private non-enterprise organisation, a fund or a State agency, etc., the competent customs office shall mean the Customs at the domicile of the applicant; if an applicant for duty reduction or exemption is a non-legal person branch of the investor in a project, the competent customs office shall mean the Customs at the place of business registration. Exception applies under the following special circumstances:

(I) where the Customs at the location of the investment project is different from the Customs at the place of enterprise registration as a legal person or the customs at the place of business registration of the applicant for duty reduction or exemption, the customs at the location of the investment project shall be the competent customs office; where there are several customs offices at the location of the investment project, the common higher-level customs of the relevant customs offices or the customs office designated by the common higher-level Customs office shall be the competent customs office;

(II) circumstances specifically stipulated in the implementation measures of the relevant import and export duty incentive policies; and

(III) any other circumstances approved by the GAC.

Article 36    The format of documents listed herein shall be formulated and announced separately by the GAC.

Article 37    The GAC is responsible for interpretation of these Measures.

Article 38    These Measures shall be implemented with effect from 1 March 2021, repealing simultaneously the Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Duty Reduction and Exemption for Imports and Exports (GAC Decree No. 179) promulgated by the GAC on 29 December 2008.