Promulgation Authorities:  General Administration of Customs

Promulgation Date:  2018.11.23

Effective Date:  2018.11.23

Validity Status:  valid

Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Inspection and Quarantine of Inbound and Outbound Grains (Revised in November, 2018)

Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Inspection and Quarantine of Inbound and Outbound Grains (Revised in November, 2018)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1    The present Measures are enacted in accordance with the provisions of the laws and regulations such as the Law of the People's Republic of China on Inbound and Outbound Animal and Plant Quarantine and its Implementing Regulations, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Food Safety and its Implementing Regulations, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and its Implementing Regulations, the Administrative Regulations for the Safety of  Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture and the Special Rules of the State Council on Strengthening the Supervision and Administration of the Safety of Food and Other Products.

Article 2    The present Measures shall apply to the supervision and administration of the inspection and quarantine of inbound and outbound (including transit) grains.

For the purpose of the present Measures, the term "grains" refers to the seeds of the cereals, beans and oil crops and the tuberous root or tuber of potatoes, to be used for processing but not for reproduction purpose.

Article 3    The General Administration of Customs shall be uniformly in charge of the supervision and administration of the inspection and quarantine of inbound and outbound grains nationwide.

A competent customs office shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the inspection and quarantine of inbound and outbound grains in its jurisdiction.

Article 4    The General Administration of Customs and competent customs offices shall conduct risk management for the quality safety of inbound and outbound grains, including, based on risk analysis, granting access to inbound and outbound grains under inspection and quarantine, analysis of risks of harmful organisms carried in the products, assessment and evaluation of regulatory systems, establishing the inspection and quarantine requirements and registration of overseas production enterprises.

Article 5    The consignees and consignors of inbound and outbound grains as well as production, processing, storage and transportation enterprises shall engage in production and operation in accordance with the law, establish and implement the grain quality safety control system and the epidemic prevention and control system, be responsible for the quality safety of inbound and outbound grains, act with integrity and in good faith, accept social supervision and assume social responsibility.

Chapter II Entry Inspection and Quarantine

Section 1 Registration

Article 6    The General Administration of Customs adopts the registration system for overseas enterprises manufacturing, processing or storing the grains to be imported (hereinafter referred to as "overseas production and processing enterprises" in short).

Overseas production and processing enterprises shall meet the relevant requirements of the laws and regulations as well as standards of the exporting countries or regions, and satisfy the requirements of the relevant Chinese laws and regulations and mandatory standards.

Overseas production and processing enterprises of inbound grains that are subject to registration administration shall be recommended to the General Administration of Customs after passing the examination of the competent authorities of exporting countries or regions. The General Administration of Customs shall conduct examination confirmation upon receipt of the recommendation materials, and the qualified overseas production and processing enterprises in the countries or regions shall be registered.

The registration of overseas production and processing enterprises shall be valid for four years.

If an overseas production and processing enterprise needs to extend the period of validity, the competent authorities in the exporting country or region shall apply to the General Administration of Customs for extension six months before the expiry of the period of validity. Upon confirmation by the General Administration of Customs, the period of validity of registration may be extended for four years. The General Administration of Customs may, if necessary, dispatch experts to the exporting country or region to conduct retrospective examination of the regulatory system thereof and conduct random inspections of the overseas production and processing enterprise that applies for the extension.

If the grains exported by a registered overseas production and processing enterprise to China fail to pass the inspection and quarantine and the circumstances are serious, the General Administration of Customs may revoke its registration.

Article 7    To export grains to China, any overseas production and processing enterprise shall obtain recognition of the competent authorities of the exporting country or region, and shall have the quality safety control facilities for sifting and sieving, drying, testing and epidemic prevention, etc. as well as quality management system. It is prohibited to add any impurity.

The General Administration of Customs may dispatch some experts to conduct a systematic survey abroad as appropriate, conduct investigation into epidemic situations, inspect production, processing and storage enterprises, pre-inspection and supervison of storage, etc.

Section 2 Inspection and Quarantine

Article 8    The General Administration of Customs adopts an access system for the quarantine of inbound grains.

For the import of a type of grain from an exporting country or region for the first time, the competent authorities of the exporting country or region shall file a written application with the General Administration of Customs, with the technical data of the types of harmful organisms arising from cultivation, storage and transportation of the grain, extent of harm, prevention and control of harm and quality and safety control system, etc., provided. Under special circumstances, the importing enterprise may file an application, with the technical materials provided. The General Administration of Customs may organize analysis of the risks of the grain to be imported, conduct on-site inspection and carry out negotiation with the foreign parties.

The General Administration of Customs shall, in accordance with the mandatory requirements of the national laws and regulations and technical specifications, develop specific requirements of inspection and quarantine for inbound grains, and announce the types of grains allowed to be imported and the list of the source countries or regions.

For the types of grains of which import is permitted and corresponding source countries or regions, the General Administration of Customs shall, in light of the overseas epidemic dynamic conditions, interception and capture of importing epidemic situations and other quality safety status, organize and carry out retrospective examination of the specific inspection and quarantine requirements for inbound grains, and shall dispatch experts to conduct on-site investigation, pre-inspection, supervision of storage and negotiations with foreign parties if necessary.

Article 9    Inbound grains shall enter the ports designated by the General Administration of Customs. The conditions and management specifications for the designated ports shall be developed by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 10    The General Administration of Customs adopts a quarantine permit system for inbound grains. Owners of inbound grains shall, prior to signing trade contracts, apply for going through quarantine examination and approval procedures in accordance with the Administrative Measures for the Approval of the Quarantine of Imported Animals and Plants and other applicable regulations, obtain the Quarantine Permit of the People's Republic of China for Imported Animals and Plants (hereinafter referred to as the Quarantine Permit in short), and include the requirements of national grain quality safety, plant quarantine requirements and the relevant requirements as prescribed in the Quarantine Permit in the trade contracts.

Due to reasons such as port restrictions, inbound grains shall be transported to the designated storage and processing places that meet the epidemic prevention and regulation conditions (hereinafter referred to as "designated enterprises" in short). When applying for the Quarantine Permit, owners or their agents shall specify the designated places and provide the corresponding supporting documents.

The grains for which the Quarantine Permit fails to be obtained shall not be imported.

Article 11    The customs shall conduct inspection and quarantine on inbound grains according to the following requirements,:

(1) Relevant requirements determined by bilateral agreements, protocols, memoranda, and other bilateral agreements signed by and between the Chinese government and the governments of the grain exporting countries or regions.

(2) Mandatory requirements of Chinese laws and regulations and national technical specifications, and the inspection and quarantine requirements as prescribed by the General Administration of Customs; and

(3) Quarantine requirements as prescribed in the Quarantine Permit.

Article 12    Owners or their agents shall, prior to the grains enter China, apply to the customs at the ports of entry for inspection and quarantine and provide the following materials as required:

(1) Plant quarantine document issued by the competent authorities of the grain exporting countries or regions;

(2) Certificates of origin;

(3) Trade vouchers such as trade contracts, bills of lading, packing lists and invoices, etc.; and

(4) Other documents as determined by the bilateral agreements, protocols and memoranda and as prescribed by the General Administration of Customs.

For the inbound genetically modified grains, the Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms Safety Certificate shall also be obtained. The customs shall conduct automatic comparative verification of the electronic data on the Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms Safety Certificate.

Owners are encouraged to ask for the overseas grain exporters such documents as quality certificates, sanitary certificates, fitness certificates and weight certificates issued by the competent authorities of the exporting country or region or by third-party testing agencies.

Article 13    Inbound grains may be subject to onboard fumigation treatment.

Prior to an on-site inspection, inbound grains carriers or their agents shall declare the information on the onboard fumigation treatment of the inbound grains in writing to the customs at the ports of entry and conduct ventilation in advance. If they fail to declare such information, the customs will not conduct on-site inspection; if fumigant residuals are found in the on-site inspection or the concentration of fumigation residual gas exceeds the safety limit, inspection and quarantine and relevant on-site inspection activities shall be suspended; and only when the fumigant residuals are effectively removed and the concentration of fumigation residual gas is lower than the safety limit may the on-site inspection be resumed.

Article 14    For the inbound bulk grains that are carried by ships, the customs shall conduct inspection and quarantine on the surface layer of goods at anchorage grounds. The ships may enter the ports only if there is no major abnormality in terms of quality safety; and bulk grains shall continue to be subject to inspection and quarantine at the ports.

Direct inspection and quarantine at berth, if required, shall be subject to the consent of the customs in advance.

Grains imported by other means such as vessel containers, trains and cars shall be subject to inspection and quarantine conducted at the inspection places designated by the customs and shall not be arbitrarily removed without consent of the customs.

Article 15    The customs shall conduct on-site inspection and quarantine on the inbound grains. On-site inspection and quarantine include:

(1) Verification of goods and documents. Information such as the documents and the names and quantities (weight) of goods, the names of export storage processing enterprises and their registration numbers shall be verified. For the bulk grains carried by ships, the information on goods loaded in the previous voyage and the inventory inspection shall be verified, and the quality safety risks of the grains loaded shall be evaluated; and for grains carried by containers, the numbers of the container and sealing shall be verified.

(2) On-site inspection. The inspection shall focus on whether the grains are wet with water, moldy or deteriorated, whether the grains carry harmful organisms such as insects, weed seeds, etc., and whether the grains have mixed cereal grains, plant residues, soils, fumigant residues, seed coating pollution, animal carcasses, animal wastes or other objects prohibited from entering China;

(3) Taking samples. Samples shall be taken under the relevant provisions and standards to laboratories for testing; and

(4) Other on-site inspection activities.

Article 16    The customs shall, under the relevant working procedures and standards, conduct laboratory testing on the samples taken upon on-site inspection and suspicious substances, and issue the inspection and quarantine result list.

The samples for laboratory testing shall be appropriately stored and shall be retained for at least three months. If any abnormality is detected and it is necessary to issue documents to the foreign party concerned, the samples shall be retained for at least six months.

Article 17    In any of the following circumstances, inbound grains shall be subject to fumigation, disinfection or other harm-elimination treatment at the port anchorage grounds, ports or designated quarantine supervision places, under the supervision by the customs:

(1) Quarantine pests or other living harmful insects with quarantine risks are found and may cause spreading.

(2) Safety and hygiene problems such as excessive seed coating, fumigant pollution, toxic weed seeds are found, and there are effective technical treatment measures; or

(3) Other reasons cause the quality safety of grains in danger.

Article 18    In any of the following circumstances, inbound grains shall be returned or destroyed:

(1) The inbound grains are not included in the list of market access by the General Administration of Customs, or without the documents such as the Plant Quarantine Certificate issued by the competent authorities of the grains exporting countries or regions, or without the Quarantine Permit;

(2) The testing results of toxic and harmful substances or other safety and health items fail to meet the compulsory requirements under the national technical codes, and the use of the grains cannot be changed or no effective treatments can be taken;

(3) Any genetically modified components were found, but no Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms Safety Certificate was provided, or the genetically modified components are inconsistent with those indicated in the certificates;

(4) Any soil, quarantine harmful organisms or any other prohibited inbound substances were found, and no effective quarantine treatment can be taken;

(5) The grains have been decayed or deteriorated due to water damage or mold, or contaminated by chemical or radiological substance, and the use of the grains cannot be changed or no effective treatments can be taken; or

(6) Quality and safety of grains are seriously endangered due to other causes.

Article 19    After the inbound grains have passed the inspection and quarantine, the customs shall issue relevant documents such as inbound cargo inspection and quarantine proof; if the inbound grains fail to pass the inspection and quarantine, the customs shall issue a Notice on Inspection and Quarantine Treatment and the relevant inspection and quarantine document .

Article 20    The customs shall supervise inbound grains by quarantine. Inbound grains shall be processed and used only at the designated places that meet the quarantine and treatment conditions. Inbound grains shall not directly enter into market for circulation without effective harm-elimination treatment or processing.

Anti-epidemic measures such as prevention of spill and sealing shall be taken during the steps of loading and unloading, transport, processing and treatment of leftovers of inbound grains. The processing of inbound grains shall have the conditions for effectively killing harmful organisms such as weed seeds and pathogenic bacteria. The leftovers of grain processing shall be subject to effective harm-elimination treatments such as heat treatment, crushing or burning.

The customs shall determine the processing regulatory risk level of inbound grains based on the extent of harmful organisms such as weeds found in inspection on inbound grains, contents of impurities and other quality and safety conditions, and in light of factors such as quarantine treatment conditions of the proposed processing and transportation enterprises, and shall direct and supervise relevant enterprises to take safety prevention and control measures including epidemic control and surveillance.

Article 21    If the inbound grains are specifically used as reserves or for delivery of futures, the production, processing and storage thereof shall be in compliance with the inspection and quarantine regulations of the General Administration of Customs.

Article 22    If a small amount of grains not included in the list of market access by the General Administration of Customs are imported for special use such as scientific research, exhibition and samples, applications for special entry quarantine approval shall be submitted in advance in accordance with relevant regulations, with the Quarantine Permit obtained.

Article 23    If more than one customs are involved in loading and unloading, storage and processing of inbound grains, such customs shall enhance communication and collaboration, establish a corresponding work mechanism and promptly inform each other of the inspection and quarantine results and regulatory information.

If the inbound grains are to be unloaded in several ports, the customs shall inform each other of the inspection and quarantine results before the grains are released. If it is necessary to issue documents to the foreign parties, the relevant customs shall reach an agreement through negotiation and deal with the case in accordance with relevant regulations.

If the inbound grains are to be transported from the port of entry, the customs at the port shall promptly issue an inbound grains transport notice to the customs at the destination prior to the inbound grains are transported.

Article 24    If grains are transported through China from a foreign country, the owners or their agents shall submit prior applications to the General Administration of Customs or the competent customs offices, and provide information about transit routes, modes of transportation and management measures, etc. Only after the General Administration of Customs organizes to formulate transit grains inspection and quarantine regulatory plans, the grains may be transported through China, and shall be subject to supervision and administration of the competent customs offices.

The transit grains shall be sealed in transportation to prevent spill or leakage. The transit grains shall not be unpacked or unloaded from the transportation facilities without the approval of the competent customs offices.

Chapter III Outbound Inspection and Quarantine

Section 1 Registration

Article 25    If the importing countries or regions require that China registers the producing, processing or storing enterprises that export grains to them (hereinafter referred to as "outbound grains production and processing enterprises" in short), the customs offices directly under the General Administration of Customs shall be responsible for the organization of registration and filing the same with the General Administration of Customs for the record.

Article 26    Outbound grain production and processing enterprises shall meet the following requirements:

(1) They shall have corporate capacity, register with the administrations for industry and commerce, and hold the Business License for Enterprises as Legal Persons;

(2) They shall establish and effectively implement whole process management systems for their business in respect of grains, maintain clear and complete accounting records that accurately reflect the information about traceable inflow and outflow of grains. The accounting records shall be kept for not less than two years;

(3) They shall have the quality and safety control facilities such as sifting and sieving, drying, testing and epidemic prevention, and effective quality, safety and traceability management systems.

(4) They shall establish the monitoring system for harmful organisms, employ the personnel that meet the needs of epidemic prevention, and have the anti-epidemic measures and capability against pests, mice and birds, etc.; and

(5) They shall not be established in any areas that damage hygiene of grains or areas susceptible to infection of harmful organisms. The storage areas shall not concurrently operate, produce or store any toxic or harmful substances. The warehouses and venues shall be hardened, leveled and free from water. The grains shall be stored by categories, kept a distance from ground and wall and clearly marked.

Section 2 Inspection and Quarantine

Article 27    The carriers, packers or their agents that engage in the means of transportation such as ships or containers carrying the outbound grains shall apply to the competent customs for fitness inspection including cleaning, hygiene and air-tightness before the outbound grains are shipped. For those that fail to subject to inspection and quarantine or fail to pass inspection and quarantine, shipping is not allowed.

Article 28    Owners or their agents shall make declaration for inspection and quarantine to the customs of the places where the storage or processing enterprises are located before the grains are exit, and shall provide such supporting documents as trade contracts, invoices and self-check conformity certificates, etc.

If the grains are to be delivered on the strength of samples, the agreed samples shall also be provided.

Article 29    The customs shall conduct the on-site inspection and quarantine as well as the laboratory test on the outbound grains under the following requirements:

(1) Bilateral agreements, protocols and memorandums and other bilateral arrangements;

(2) Inspection and quarantine requirements of the importing countries or regions;

(3) Inspection and quarantine requirements regulated in the laws, regulations, mandatory standards of China as well as by the General Administration of Customs; and

(4) Quarantine requirements specified in the trade contracts or the letters of credit.

Article 30    For those that meet the inspection and quarantine requirements, or those that meet such requirements through another inspection and quarantine by effective insecticide or technical treatment, the customs shall issue the Voucher on Re-issuance of the Certificate for the Exit Goods in accordance with regulations. If the importing countries or regions require inspection and quarantine document , the certificates shall be issued in accordance with the relevant regulations of China. Where the importing countries or regions require new forms or contents of the inspection and quarantine document , the existing certificates may be changed only upon the approval of the General Administration of Customs.

For those that fail to pass the inspection and quarantine and there are no effective insecticide or technical treatment, or those that fail to pass another inspection and quarantine after initial treatment, the customs shall issue an Outbound Cargo Nonconformity Notice, and the grains shall not be allowed to exit China.

Article 31    The valid period of inspection on outbound grains is up to 2 months; generally, the valid period of quarantine is 21 days, but it may be extended to 35 days as appropriate during winter (from November to the end of February in the next year) in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. After the period of validity of inspection and quarantine expires, applications for inspection and quarantine on the grains shall be filed anew prior to the grains leave the country.

Article 32    The customs at the places of origin and at the ports shall establish a communication and collaboration system, and promptly inform each other of inspection and quarantine results and other relevant particulars.

After the outbound grains has passed the inspection and quarantine at the places of origin, the customs at the exit port shall conduct inspection in accordance with relevant regulations, with focus on whether the documents are consistent with the goods and whether there are infections of any harmful organisms. Any outbound grains failing to pass the inspection shall not be released.

For the outbound grains are to be consolidated at the destination port, an application for inspection shall be filed anew and the quarantine shall be carried out again. If there are different inspection and quarantine requirements due to changes to the importing country or region after the outbound grains arrive at the destination port, an application for inspection shall be filed anew and the quarantine shall be carried out again.

Chapter IV Risks and Supervision and Administration

Section 1 Risk Monitoring and Early Warnings

Article 33    The General Administration of Customs shall implement epidemics monitoring system for inbound and outbound grains, and shall develop relevant monitoring technical guides.

The customs shall monitor and investigate quarantine harmful organisms such as weeds at grains entry ports, warehouses, areas near processing plants, transportation routes and areas where grains would be likely to scatter during transit and reloading. If any epidemics are found, the customs shall promptly organize relevant enterprises to take emergent measures, analyze the sources of epidemics and guide the enterprises to take effective measures for rectification. The relevant enterprises shall cooperate with the customs to monitor and eradicate the epidemics.

The customs shall, as required by the importing countries or regions, investigate and monitor various epidemics at the areas near grain cultivation lands, export warehouses and processing enterprises.

Article 34    The General Administration of Customs shall implement safety and hygiene risk monitoring system of inbound and outbound grains and formulate risk monitoring plans regarding safety and hygiene of inbound and outbound grains.

Article 35    The General Administration of Customs and the competent customs offices shall establish a grains quality and safety data collection and reporting system. The sources of data are mainly from:

(1) Grains quality and safety information found in the inspection and quarantine of inbound and outbound grains;

(2) Grains quality and safety information found in the quality management of trading, storage and processing enterprises of inbound and outbound grains;

(3) Grains quality and safety information found in the epidemic monitoring and safety and hygiene risk monitoring by the customs;

(4) Grains quality and safety information reported by international organizations, foreign government agencies, domestic and foreign industry associations and consumers; and

(5) Other information regarding risk of grains quality and safety.

Article 36    The General Administration of Customs and the competent customs offices shall assess the risks relating to grains quality and safety information, determine the risk levels of corresponding grains and conduct risk level-based dynamic management. They shall adjust, based on risk assessment results, the inspection and quarantine management for inbound and outbound grains as well as related regulatory measures and business monitoring measures.

Article 37    If major epidemics or major quality or safety issues are found in inbound or outbound grains, the General Administration of Customs and the competent customs offices shall, in accordance with the relevant regulations, take emergency disposal plans and other emergency disposal measures and release a notice of warning. When the risks of grains safety disappear or are reduced to the acceptable level, the General Administration of Customs and the competent customs offices shall lift the notice of warning.

Article 38    The General Administration of Customs and the competent customs offices shall notify the important information about risks of grains safety to the relevant authorities and entities, including local governments, agriculture and grains administrative authorities, foreign competent authorities and grains import/export enterprises, and cooperate with them to take necessary measures. Grains safety information shall be disclosed under relevant prescribed procedures.

Section 2 Supervision and Administration

Article 39    Any enterprise that intends to engage in storage or processing of inbound grains may file an application with the local competent customs office.

The competent customs office shall, in accordance with the relevant requirements prescribed by the General Administration of Customs, check and evaluate the application materials and technological processes of the applicant, and verify the applicant's grain storage and processing categories and capabilities.

Any enterprise that engages in storage and processing of inbound grains shall establish effective quality, safety and traceability management systems and conform to the quality and safety control requirements for epidemic prevention and treatment.

Article 40    The customs shall conduct quarantine supervision over the designated enterprises.

The designated enterprises, consignees and their agents shall, when finding any major epidemic or public health problem, immediately report it to the local customs. The customs shall deal with the problem and report it to the superior authorities in accordance with relevant regulations.

Article 41    Inbound and outbound grains consignors and consignees as well as production, processing, storage and transportation enterprises shall establish corresponding production and business operation records relating to entry and exit of grains, unloading, transportation, storage, processing, treatment of leftovers and shipment designations, and maintain detailed records of quality traceability and safety control. All the records shall be kept for at least two years.

Article 42    If the inbound grains have any serious safety or quality problem, which has caused or may cause material damage to human health or ecological safety of agriculture, forestry, husbandry or fishery, the consignee of the inbound grains shall take initiative to recall such grains. The consignee shall take actions to avoid or mitigate losses, properly record the recall, and report the recall and relevant measures to the local customs.

If the consignee fails to take initiative to recall the aforesaid grains, the customs offices directly under the General Administration of Customs shall issue an order of recall and report the situations to the General Administration of Customs. If necessary, the General Administration of Customs may order the consignee to recall the aforesaid grains.

Article 43    The General Administration of Customs and the competent customs offices shall conduct classified management of enterprises in light of their quality management, facility conditions, control of safety risk and integrity in business operation. For the enterprises at different levels, corresponding inspection and quarantine regulatory measures shall be taken in such aspects as approval of entry quarantine clearance of grains, entry and exit inspection and quarantine and daily regulation. The specific standards for classified management shall be developed by the General Administration of Customs.

Chapter V Legal Liability

Article 44    Under either of the following circumstances, the customs shall impose a fine up to 5,000 yuan in accordance with the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine:

(1) There is no declaration for inspection; or

(2) The grains declared for inspection are inconsistent with the actual grains in question.

For any activities specified in Item (2) of the preceding paragraph, the obtained quarantine document shall be revoked.

Article 45    For the inbound grains for which the quarantine approval procures have not be completed in accordance with the law or the quarantine approval regulations have not been implemented, the customs shall impose a fine up to 5,000 yuan in accordance with the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine.

Article 46    For those that sell or use inbound or outbound grains listed in the catalog of import and export commodities subject to compulsory inspection that fail to go through declaration for inspection or fail to be inspected, the customs shall, in accordance with the Implementation Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, confiscate the illegal gains and impose a fine of more than 5% but less than 20% of the value of goods.

Article 47    If the consignor/consignee of inbound or outbound grains, or the production, processing, storage or transportation enterprise fails to establish the production and business operation files and properly records in accordance with Article 41 of the present Measures, the customs shall order it to make rectifications and give warnings to it; or even impose a fine of more than 3,000 yuan but less than 10,000 yuan against it if it refuses to make rectifications as ordered.

Article 48    Under either of the following circumstances, the customs shall impose a fine of more than 3,000 yuan but less than 30,000 yuan in accordance with the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine:

(1) Unloading the inbound grains or transit grains from the means of transportation, or removing the grains from the designated inspection sites without the approval of the customs; or

(2) Unpacking the transit grains, or removing or damaging animal and plant quarantine sealing or marks without authorization.

Article 49    If the consignor or consignee of any inbound or outbound grains listed in the catalog of import and export commodities subject to compulsory inspection, or its agent or inspection declarer obtain relevant documents from the customs by providing false information about inbound or outbound grains, or fails to make declaration for inspection and evade inspection, the customs shall, in accordance with the Implementation Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, confiscate its illegal gains and impose a fine of more than 5% but less than 20% of the value of goods.

Article 50    For those that forge, alter, sell, purchase or steal inspection documents, seals, marks, sealing or customs clearance documents for goods, or use forged or altered inspection documents, seals, marks, sealing or customs clearance certificates for goods, which do not constitute criminal offenses, the customs shall, in accordance with the Implementation Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, order them to make rectifications, confiscate the illegal gains and jointly impose a fine up to the value of goods.

Article 51    For either of the following acts in violation of laws, which does not constitutes a criminal offenses or the circumstances of the criminal offense are obviously minor and no criminal punishment is required in accordance with the law, the customs shall impose a fine of more than 20,000 yuan but less than 50,000 yuan in accordance with the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine:

(1) Causing a major animal or plant epidemic; or

(2) Forging or altering animal and plant quarantine documents, seals, marks or sealing.

Article 52    For the inbound or outbound grains of any production, processing or storage enterprise registered in accordance with the present Measures fail to pass the quarantine, the customs shall, in addition to return, destruction or harm-elimination treatment of the inbound or outbound grains in accordance with relevant provisions of the present Measures, deregister the said enterprise in accordance with the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine if the circumstances are serious.

Article 53    For those that replace the samples taken by the customs or replace the inbound or outbound grains having passed the inspection of the customs without authorization, the customs shall order them to make rectifications and give warnings to them in accordance with the Implementation Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection; and a fine of more than 10% but less than 50% of the value of goods shall be imposed in serious cases.

Article 54    For those that provide or use any means of transportation including containers, cabins, aircrafts or vehicles without fitness inspection conducted by the customs to carry outbound grains, the customs shall impose a fine up to 100,000 yuan in accordance with the Implementation Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection.

For those that provide or use any means of transportation including containers, cabins, aircrafts or vehicles having failed to pass fitness inspection conducted by the customs to carry outbound grains, the customs shall impose a fine up to 200,000 yuan in accordance with the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on Import and Export Commodity Inspection.

Article 55    Under any of the following circumstances, the customs shall impose a fine of more than 3,000 yuan but less than 10,000 yuan:

(1) Failing to take the initiative to recall the inbound grains that have serious safety or quality problems, or those that would cause material damage to human health or ecological safety of agriculture, forestry, husbandry or fishery;

(2) Failing to report the recall or treatment of inbound grains to the customs;

(3) Failing to unload the inbound grains the inspection sites designated by the customs; or

(4) Refusing to make effective quarantine treatment for the inbound grains that have any of the circumstances listed in Article 17 hereof.

Article 56    Under any of the following circumstances, the customs shall impose a fine up to 30,000 yuan:

(1) Failing to register the inbound or outbound grains in accordance with the regulations or failing to produce, process or store them at the designated places;

(2) Selling, purchasing or stealing any animal and plant quarantine document , seals, marks or sealing, or using any forged or altered animal and plant quarantine document , seals, marks or sealing;

(3) Using any forged or altered official quarantine document  of the exporting countries or regions; or

(4) Refusing to accept the quarantine supervision from the customs.

Article 57    Any customs officer, who abuses his/her power, deliberately places obstacles, engages in malpractice for personal benefit or falsifies inspection and quarantine results, or makes dereliction of his/her duties, delaying issuance of inspection documents, shall be imposed administrative sanctions in accordance with the law; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 58    The provisions for the supervision and administration of inspection and quarantine on inbound and outbound grains that are directly sold without processing shall be otherwise prescribed by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 59    The small amount of inbound and outbound grains in border trade shall be subject to relevant regulations of the General Administration of Customs.

Article 60    The present Measures shall be interpreted by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 61    The present Measures shall come into force on July 1, 2016, repealing  simultaneously the Administrative Measures for the Inspection and Quarantine of Inbound and Outbound Grains and Fodders (Order No. 7 of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine) promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in December 2001. In case of any inconsistency between the previous regulations for inspection and quarantine of inbound and outbound grains and the present Measures, the latter shall prevail.