Promulgation Authorities:  General Administration of Customs

Promulgation Date:  2009.01.08

Effective Date:  2009.03.01

Validity Status:  valid

Document Number:  Order of the General Administration of Customs No. 181

Administrative Provisions of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Preferential Origin of Imports and Exports

Administrative Provisions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Preferential Origin of Imports and Exports

Order of the General Administration of Customs No. 181

Article 1    These Provisions are formulated pursuant to 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 Tariffs, the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Place of Origin of Imports and Exports for the purposes of properly determining the place of origin of the imports and exports under the preferential trade agreements and standardising Customs administration of place of origin of imports and exports under preferential trade agreements.

Article 2    These Provisions shall apply to Customs administration of place of origin of imports and exports under preferential trade agreements.

Article 3    For imports transported directly from a member country or region under a preferential trade agreement (hereinafter referred to as the "member country or region") which satisfy any of the following conditions, the place of origin shall be the said member country or region, and the conventional tariff or ex-gratia tariff corresponding to the corresponding preferential trade agreement in the Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "conventional tariff" or "ex-gratia tariff") shall apply:

(1) entirely derived from or manufactured in the said member country or region; or

(2) not entirely derived from or manufactured in the said member country or region but comply with the provisions of Article 5 and Article 6 of these Provisions.

Article 4    Goods which are "entirely derived from or manufactured in the said member country or region" as referred to in item (1) of Article 3 of these Provisions shall mean:

(1) plant products harvested, picked or collected in the said member country or region;

(2) live animals born and bred in the said member country or region;

(3) minerals mined or extracted in the territory or territorial sea of the said member country or region; and

(4) any other goods which comply with the standards of "entirely derived" stipulated in the corresponding preferential trade agreements.

Article 5    The place of origin of goods which are "not entirely derived from or manufactured in the said member country or region" as referred to in item (2) of Article 3 of these Provisions shall be determined according to the tariff classification change standard, regional value-added content standard, manufacturing and processing process standard or other standards stipulated in the corresponding preferential trade agreements.

(1) Tariff classification change standard shall mean that there is a change of tariff classification for the derived goods in the "Harmonised Commodity Description And Coding System" after manufacturing and processing of materials not originated from the member country or region in the exporting member country or region.

(2) Regional value-added content standard shall mean the percentage of the remaining price in the free-on-board price (FOB) of the exports after deducting the price of materials not originated from the said member country or region in the manufacturing process of goods from the free-on-board price (FOB) of the exports.

(3) Manufacturing and processing process standard shall mean the main process which gives rise to the basic characteristics of the goods derived from processing.

(4) Other standards shall mean standards other than the aforesaid standards agreed unanimously by the member country or region for determination of the place of origin of the goods.

Article 6    Where goods or materials originated from a member country or region under a preferential trade agreement are used for manufacturing of another type of goods in another member country or region under the same preferential trade agreement and become an integral part of the other type of goods, the goods or materials shall be deemed as originated from the other member country or region.

Article 7    Minor processing or handling such as processing, packaging, display, etc for the purposes of facilitating loading, transportation, storage and sale shall not affect the determination of the place of origin of the goods.

Article 8    Packaging materials and containers used for protection of goods during transportation shall not affect the determination of the place of origin of the goods.

Article 9    The place of origin of materials or items used in the manufacturing process of goods which neither become material composition of the goods nor become an integral part of the goods shall not affect the determination of the place of origin of the goods.

Article 10    "Transported directly" as referred to in Article 3 of these Provisions shall mean that imports under a preferential trade agreement are transported directly from a member country or region under the agreement to China without passing through a country or region other than the member country or region under the agreement (hereinafter referred to as "other countries or regions").

Goods originated from a member country or region under a preferential trade agreement and transported to China after passing through any other country or region which comply with the following criteria shall be deemed as "transported directly", regardless if there was a change of transportation vehicle or temporary storage in the course of transportation:

(1) the goods have not undergone treatment other than those required for keeping the goods in good condition when the goods passed through any other country or region;

(2) the goods have not stopped over in any other country or region for a period which exceeds the period stipulated in the corresponding preferential trade agreement; or

(3) the goods were subject to monitoring by the Customs of the country or region when the goods were temporarily stored in other country or region.

Article 11    Agencies authorised by the laws and administrative regulations to issue a certificate of origin for exports (hereinafter referred to as the "issuing authorities") may issue a certificate of origin for exports under a preferential trade agreement.

Article 12    The issuing authorities shall issue a certificate of origin for exports pursuant to these Provisions and the rules for determination of place of origin under the corresponding preferential trade agreement.

Article 13    The General Administration of Customs shall supervise and inspect the issuance of certificate of origin for exports under preferential trade agreements by the issuing authorities to see if the issuance is made pursuant to the provisions of Article 12 of these Provisions.

The issuing authorities shall report information pertaining to issuance of certificate of origin for exports under preferential trade agreements pursuant to the provisions of Article 12 of these Provisions to the General Administration of Customs on a regular basis.

Article 14    At the time of declaration of importation of goods, the consignee of imports or its agent shall fill in a "Customs Declaration Form of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for Imports" pursuant to the declaration provisions of the Customs, state whether  conventional tariff or ex-gratia tariff is applicable, and submit the following documents together with the declaration:

(1) a valid original copy of the certificate of origin for the goods or a written declaration on place of origin stipulated by the relevant preferential trade agreement; and

(2) the original copy of commercial invoice for the goods and other commercial documents such as transportation certificate, etc.

Where the goods are transported to China after passing through any other country or region, certification such as through bills of lading, etc which proves to comply with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 10 of these Provisions shall be submitted; where the goods were temporarily stored in any other country or region, other documents issued by the Customs of the country or region which prove to comply with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 10 of these Provisions shall also be submitted.

Article 15    The certificate of origin submitted by the consignee of imports or its agent to the Customs shall comply with all the following requirements:

(1) comply with the provisions of the corresponding preferential trade agreement on format of certificate, contents filled in, signature and affixation of seal, submission deadline, etc; and

(2) be consistent with the contents in the commercial invoice, the declaration form, etc.

Article 16    Where the consignee of imports or its agent failed to submit the certificate of origin or declaration of place of origin pursuant to the provisions of Article 14 of these Provisions for goods declared to be originated from a member country or region under a preferential trade agreement, the consignee of imports or its agent shall provide supplementary declaration to the Customs at the time of declaration of importation on whether the imports qualify as originating from a member country or region under the corresponding preferential trade agreement (see Appendix for format) .

Article 17    Where the consignee of imports or its agent makes supplementary declaration pursuant to the provisions of Article 16 of these Provisions, the Customs may, according to the application of the consignee of imports or its agent, collect a security deposit equivalent to the value of the conventional tariff or ex-gratia tariff before granting clearance, and process import formalities pursuant to the provisions and compile Customs statistics.

Where the Customs deems it necessary to verify the authenticity of the certificate of origin submitted by the consignee of imports or its agent or whether the goods are originated from a member country or region under a preferential trade agreement, the Customs shall collect a security deposit equivalent to the amount of tax payable based on the most-favoured-nation rate, normal tax rate or other tax rate applicable to the goods before granting clearance, and process import formalities pursuant to the provisions and compile Customs statistics.

Article 18    When making exports declaration, the consignor of exports shall fill in a "Customs Declaration Form of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for Exports" pursuant to the declaration provisions of the Customs and submit the electronic data of the certificate of origin or a photocopy of the original copy of the certificate of origin to the Customs.

Article 19    The Customs may inspect imports or exports to determine if the place of origin of the goods is consistent with the certificate of origin and other declaration documents submitted by the consignee of imports or the consignor of exports. The detailed procedures shall comply with the relevant provisions of the Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Inspection of Imports and Exports.

Article 20    Where there is a place of origin mark on the imports or exports under a preferential trade agreement and its packaging, the place of origin stated in the place of origin mark shall be consistent with the place of origin of the goods determined pursuant to these Provisions.

Article 21    Under any of the following circumstances, conventional tariff or ex-gratia tariff shall not apply to the imports:

(1) the consignee of imports or its agent has not submitted a certificate of origin or declaration of place of origin which complies with the provisions at the time of import declaration and has not made supplementary declaration in respect of the place of origin status of the imports;

(2) the consignee of imports or its agent has not provided commercial documents such as commercial invoice, transportation certificate, etc and has not submitted other documents which prove to comply with the provisions of Article 14 of these Provisions;

(3) where it is confirmed upon inspection or verification that the place of origin of the goods is inconsistent with the declaration contents or it is impossible to determine the actual place of origin of the goods; or

(4) any other circumstances which do not comply with these Provisions and the provisions of the corresponding preferential trade agreement.

Article 22    The Customs may, where necessary, require the regulatory authorities of the exporting member country or region to verify the place of origin of imports under the preferential trade agreement.

The Customs may carry out verification visits in respect of the place of origin of goods pursuant to the provisions of the corresponding preferential trade agreement.

Article 23    The Customs may, where necessary, verify the place of origin of exports under the preferential trade agreement to determine the place of origin of the exports.

The Customs may, according to the request of a member country or region under a preferential trade agreement, verify the certificate of origin or place of origin of the exports, and shall provide feedback on the verification result within the period stipulated in the corresponding preferential trade agreement.

Article 24    The consignee of imports or the consignor of exports may apply to the Customs for administrative ruling on place of origin pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Provisional Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Administration of Administrative Rulings.

Article 25    The General Administration of Customs may make a decision on place of origin of imports or exports which is generally binding pursuant to the provisions of the relevant laws, administrative regulations and Customs rules.

Article 26    The Customs shall bear the obligation for keeping confidentiality of commercial secrets obtained pursuant to these Provisions under the law. Without the consent of the consignee of imports or the consignor of exports, the Customs shall not divulge or use the commercial secrets for any other purposes, unless otherwise stipulated by the laws, administrative regulations and the relevant judicial interpretations.

Article 27    Violations of these Provisions which constitute smuggling, violations of Customs regulatory provisions or any other violations of the Customs Law shall be punished by the Customs pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Customs Law, the Implementation Regulations of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Punishment; where the case constitutes a criminal offence, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

Article 28    The following terms used in these Provisions shall be defined as follows:

"Manufacturing" shall mean the method of obtaining the goods, including planting, breeding, extraction, harvesting, fishing, farming, trapping, hunting, capturing, gathering, collection, cultivation, extraction, production, processing or assembly of the goods;

"Materials not originated" shall mean materials not originated from a member country or region under a preferential trade agreement used for manufacturing of the goods and materials with unknown place of origin.

Article 29    The detailed implementation measures for application of conventional tariff or ex-gratia tariff to bonded goods subject to Customs control which are converted to domestic sale shall be separately stipulated by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 30    The General Administration of Customs shall be responsible for interpretation of these Provisions.

Article 31    These Provisions shall be effective 1 March 2009.