Promulgation Authorities:  General Administration of Customs

Promulgation Date:  2018.05.29

Effective Date:  2018.07.01

Validity Status:  valid

Measures of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Implementation of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property

Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Implementation of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property

Chapter 1 GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 1   These Measures are formulated pursuant to the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China and other laws and administrative regulations for the purpose of effective implementation of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations").

Article 2   Where an intellectual property right holder requests the Customs to take intellectual property protection measures or files for Customs protection of intellectual property with the General Administration of Customs, a domestic intellectual property right holder may make the application directly or entrust a domestic agent to make the application, while an overseas intellectual property right holder shall submit the application through its office established in China or entrust a domestic agent to make the application.

An intellectual property right holder who entrusts a domestic agent to submit an application pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall issue a power of attorney in the stipulated format.

Article 3   Where an intellectual property right holder and its agent (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "IPR holder") request the Customs to detain suspected infringing goods which are about to be imported or exported, they shall submit an application to the Customs for detention of suspected infringing goods pursuant to the relevant provisions of these Measures.

Article 4   A consignee of imports or a consignor of exports or its agent (hereinafter referred to collectively as "the consignee/consignor") shall have an understanding, within a reasonable scope, of the intellectual property status of the goods he imports or exports. Where the Customs requires declaration of the intellectual property status of imports or exports, the consignee/consignor shall declare truthfully and submit the relevant proof documents to the Customs within the period stipulated by the Customs.

Article 5   Where the relevant documents or evidence submitted by an IPR holder or the consignee/consignor to the Customs involve commercial secrets, the IPR holder or the consignee/consignor shall provide a written explanation to the Customs.

Where the Customs enforces intellectual property protection, it shall keep the confidentiality of commercial secrets of the relevant parties concerned, except for information which is required to be announced by the Customs pursuant to the law.

Chapter 2  FILING FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 6   An IPR holder who applies to the General Administration of Customs for filing of Customs protection of intellectual property shall submit an application form to the General Administration of Customs. The application form shall include the following contents:

(1) name, place of registration or nationality, correspondence address of the IPR holder; name, telephone number and facsimile number, email address of the contact person, etc.

(2) description of registered trademark, type and description of the commodities which use the trademark, trademark logo, validity period for registration, status of transfer, change or renewal of registered trademark, etc; name of work, time of completion of creative work, type of work, photographs of work, status of transfer, change of work, etc; description, type and date of application of patent, status of transfer, change of patent, etc.

(3) name of licensee, commodities licensed to use the intellectual property, licence period, etc.

(4) description and place of origin of commodities for which the IPR holder exercises intellectual property legitimately, inbound and outbound Customs at the location, importer or exporter, main characteristics, prices, etc.

(5) manufacturer, importer or exporter of the goods which are known to infringe the intellectual property, inbound and outbound Customs at the location, main characteristics, prices, etc.

The IPR holder shall submit one application form for each item of intellectual property rights applied for filing. Where an IPR holder applies for filing of an international registered trademark, he shall submit one application form for each type of commodity under the application.

Article 7   An IPR holder who submits an application form for filing to the General Administration of Customs shall attach the following documents and evidence:

(1) identity document of the IPR holder;

(2) a photocopy of the "Trademark Registration Certificate" signed and issued by  the industrial and commercial administration department of the State Council. Where an applicant changes trademark registration matter, renews trademark registration or transfers registered trademark upon approval or applies for filing of an international registered trademark, the relevant trademark registration proof issued by the industrial and commercial administration department of the State Council shall also be submitted; a photocopy of the proof of voluntary copyright registration issued by the copyright registration department, and the photographs of work authenticated by the copyright registration department. Where an applicant has not completed voluntary copyright registration, he shall submit samples of work that are able to prove that the applicant is the copyright holder and other evidence relating to the copyright; a photocopy of the patent certificate signed and issued by the patent administration department of the State Council. Where a period of one year or more has elapsed since the date of announcement of patent grant, the duplicate copy of patent register issued by the patent administration department of the State Council within six months before the applicant applies for filing shall also be submitted; for application  to file utility model patent or design patent, the patent rights evaluation report issued by the patent administration department of the State Council shall also be submitted.

(3) where an IPR holder has entered into a licensing contract authorising others to use his registered trademark or work or to implement of his patent, a photocopy of the licensing contract shall be provided; where the licensing contract has not been concluded, a written explanation on the related licensee, scope of licensing and licence period, etc, shall be provided.

(4) photographs of the goods for which the IPR holder exercises intellectual property right legitimately and the packaging thereof.

(5) evidence of importation or exportation of the infringing goods which are made known. Where an infringement dispute between the IPR holder and another party has been handled by a People's Court or the intellectual property authorities in charge, a photocopy of the relevant legal documents shall also be submitted.

The documents and evidence submitted by an IPR holder to the General Administration of Customs pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be complete, true and valid. Where the relevant documents and evidence are written in foreign text, a Chinese translation shall be attached. The General Administration of Customs may, where it deems necessary, require an IPR holder to submit the notarisation or authentication documents for the relevant documents or evidence.

Article 8   Where an IPR holder applies to the General Administration of Customs for filing of Customs protection of intellectual property or where an IPR holder submits an application anew for filing with the General Administration of Customs after the original filing has expired, it shall pay filing fee. The IPR holder shall remit the filing fee to the designated account of the General Administration of Customs through a bank. The General Administration of Customs shall issue a receipt for filing fee collected. The standards for collection of filing fee shall be separately formulated by the General Administration of Customs jointly with the relevant State authorities and be announced.

An IPR holder need not pay filing fee again for an application for renewal or change of filing.

Where an IPR holder withdraws an application for filing before approval by the General Administration of Customs is granted or where his application for filing is rejected, the General Administration of Customs shall refund the filing fee. Where a filing approved by the General Administration of Customs is cancelled or revoked by the General Administration of Customs or becomes invalid due to any other reason, the filing fee paid shall not be refunded.

Article 9   A filing of Customs protection of intellectual property shall take effect from the date of approval of filing by the General Administration of Customs and is valid for 10 years. Where the validity period of the intellectual property right is shorter than 10 years from the effective date of the filing, the validity period of the filing shall be based on the validity period of the intellectual property.

The validity period of a filing or a renewed filing approved by the General Administration of Customs prior to the implementation of the Regulations shall be computed based on the original validity period.

Article 10   During the six-month period prior to expiry of the validity period of a filing of Customs protection of intellectual property, the IPR holder may submit a written application to the General Administration of Customs for renewal of filing and attach the relevant documents. The General Administration of Customs shall decide on approval or non-approval of renewal within 10 working days from the date of receipt of all the application documents for renewal, and notify the IPR holder in writing; where the renewal is not approved, the reason shall be stated.

The validity period of a renewed filing shall commence from the day following the expiry of the validity period of the previous filing and shall be valid for 10 years. Where the validity period of the intellectual property is shorter than 10 years from the day following the expiry of the validity period of the previous filing, the validity period of the renewed filing shall be based on the validity period of the intellectual property.

Article 11   Where there is a change in the contents of the application form submitted to the Customs pursuant to Article 6 of these Measures following the approval for filing of Customs protection of intellectual property by the General Administration of Customs, the IPR holder shall submit an application for change of filing to the General Administration of Customs within 30 working days from the date of change and attach the relevant documents.

Article 12   Where the intellectual property right is no longer protected by laws and administrative regulations prior to expiry of the validity period of the filing or where there is a transfer of intellectual property rights filed, the original IPR holder shall submit an application for cancellation of filing of Customs protection of intellectual property to the General Administration of Customs within 30 working days from the date on which the intellectual property filed is no longer protected by laws and administrative regulations or the date on which the transfer takes effect, and attach the relevant documents. An IPR holder who wishes to give up the filing within the validity period of the filing may submit an application for cancellation of filing to the General Administration of Customs.

Where an IPR holder fails to apply for change or cancellation of filing with the General Administration of Customs pursuant to the provisions of Article 11 of these Measures and the preceding paragraph of this Article, causing a serious impact on legitimate importation or exportation by others, the General Administration of Customs may cancel the filing of the relevant intellectual property on its own initiative or at the request of the relevant stakeholder.

In the event of cancellation of filing by the General Administration of Customs, the relevant IPR holder shall be notified in writing and the filing of Customs protection of intellectual property shall become invalid with effect from the date of cancellation by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 13  In the event of revocation of filing of Customs protection of intellectual property by the General Administration of Customs pursuant to the provisions of Article 9 of the Regulations, the IPR holder shall be notified in writing.

Where a filing is revoked by the General Administration of Customs, if the IPR holder submits an application again for filing of the intellectual property whose filing is revoked within one year from the date of revocation of the filing, the General Administration of Customs may refuse to accept the application.

Chapter 3 DETENTION AT THE REQUEST

Article 14   Where an IPR holder discovers that the suspected infringing goods will soon be imported or exported and requests the Customs to detain the goods, he shall submit an application form to the Customs at the place of entry or exit pursuant to the provisions of Article 13 of the Regulations. Where the relevant intellectual property rights have not been filed with the General Administration of Customs, the IPR holder shall also attach the documents and evidence stipulated in items (1) and (2) of the first paragraph of Article 7 of these Measures.

Where an IPR holder requests the Customs to detain the suspected infringing goods, he shall also submit evidence to the Customs to prove that the infringement obviously exists. The evidence submitted by the IPR holder shall be able to prove the following facts:

(1) the goods requested for Customs detention will soon be imported or exported; and

(2) the goods carried a trademark logo without authorisation which infringes his exclusive rights to use the trademark, or his work is used without authorisation, or its patent has been implemented without authorisation.

Article 15   Where an IPR holder requests the Customs to detain the suspected infringing goods, he shall provide a security equivalent to the value of the goods to the Customs within the period stipulated by the Customs.

Article 16   Where the request of an IPR holder does not comply with the provisions of Article 14 of these Measures or the IPR holder fails to provide a security pursuant to the provisions of Article 15 of these Measures, the Customs shall reject the application and notify the IPR holder in writing.

Article 17   Where the Customs detains the suspected infringing goods, the Customs shall notify the IPR holder in writing of the description, quantity and value of the goods, the name of the consignee/consignor, the declared date of importation or exportation, the date of Customs detention, etc.

Upon consent of the Customs, the IPR holder may inspect the goods detained by the Customs.

Article 18   Where the Customs receives, within 20 working days from the date of detention of the suspected infringing goods, a written notice from a People's Court on assistance in detention of the relevant goods, the Customs shall render assistance; where the Customs receives no notice from a People's Court on assistance in detention or where the IPR holder requests the Customs to release the relevant goods, the Customs shall release the goods.

Article 19   Where the Customs detains the suspected infringing goods, the Customs shall serve a notice of detention of the suspected infringing goods on the consignee/consignor.

Upon consent of the Customs, the consignee/consignor may inspect the goods detained by the Customs.

Article 20   Where the consignee/consignor requests, pursuant to the provisions of Article 19 of the Regulations, for release of Customs detained goods suspected of infringement upon patent rights, the consignee/consignor shall submit a written application to the Customs and provide a security deposit equivalent to the value of the goods.

Where the request by the consignee/consignor for Customs to release the goods suspected of infringement upon patent rights complies with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Customs shall release the goods and notify the IPR holder in writing.

Where an IPR holder has filed a lawsuit with a People's Court in respect of a patent infringement dispute, he shall submit a photocopy of the notice of acceptance of lawsuit by the People's Court to the Customs within 30 working days from the date of service of written Customs notice stipulated in the preceding paragraph.

Chapter 4  EX OFFICIO INVESTIGATION AND HANDLING

Article 21   The Customs shall implement supervision on imports and exports; upon discovery that the imports or exports involve intellectual property rights filed with the General Administration of Customs and the importer/exporter or manufacturer has not filed record with the General Administration of Customs for use of the intellectual property rights, the Customs may request the consignee/consignor to declare the intellectual property rights status of the goods and submit the relevant proof documents within a stipulated period.

Where the consignee/consignor fails to declare the intellectual property rights status of the goods or submit the relevant proof documents pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, or where the Customs has reason to believe that the goods are suspected of infringement upon intellectual property rights filed with the General Administration of Customs, the Customs shall suspend release of the goods and notify the IPR holder in writing.

Article 22   An IPR holder shall reply pursuant to the following provisions within three working days from the date of service of written Customs notice stipulated in Article 21 of these Measures:

(1) where the IPR holder is of the opinion that the relevant goods have infringed upon its intellectual property rights filed with the General Administration of Customs and requests the Customs to detain the goods, he shall submit a written application to the Customs for detention of the suspected infringing goods and provide a security pursuant to the provisions of Article 23 or Article 24 of these Measures; and

(2) where the IPR holder is of the opinion that the relevant goods do not infringe upon his intellectual property rights filed with the General Administration of Customs or does not request the Customs to detain the suspected infringing goods, he shall provide a written explanation to the Customs.

Upon consent of the Customs, the IPR holder may inspect the relevant goods.

Article 23   Where an IPR holder requests the Customs to detain the suspected infringing goods pursuant to the provisions of item (1) of the first paragraph of Article 22 of these Measures, he shall provide a security to the Customs pursuant to the following rules:

(1) where the value of the goods is less than RMB20,000, a security equivalent to the value of the goods shall be provided;

(2) where the value of the goods ranges from RMB20,000 to RMB200,000, a security equivalent to 50% of the value of the goods shall be provided, however the amount of security deposit shall not be less than RMB20,000; or

(3) where the value of the goods exceeds RMB200,000, a security of RMB100,000 shall be provided.

Where the IPR holder requests  the Customs to detain the goods suspected of infringement upon exclusive rights to use trademark pursuant to the provisions of item (1) of the first paragraph of Article 22 of these Measures, he may provide a general security to the General Administration of Customs pursuant to the provisions of Article 24 of these Measures.

Article 24   An IPR holder who has filed record for the exclusive rights to use trademark with the General Administration of Customs may, upon approval of the General Administration of Customs, provide a letter of security issued by a bank or a non-bank financial institution to the General Administration of Customs, to serves as general security for its application to the Customs for Customs protection measures of the exclusive rights to use trademark.

The amount of security deposit of the general security shall be equivalent to the aggregate of the storage, safekeeping and disposal expenses, etc, incurred by the IPR holder after his application to the Customs in the preceding year for detention of the suspected infringing goods; where the IPR holder has not submitted an application to the Customs in the preceding year for detention of the suspected infringing goods or the aggregate of the storage, safekeeping and disposal expenses, etc, is less than RMB200,000, the amount of security deposit of the general security shall be RMB200,000.

From the date when the General Administration of Customs approves the use of general security to 31 December of that year, where the IPR holder requests the Customs to detain the imports or exports suspected of infringement upon his exclusive rights to use the trademark filed with the General Administration of Customs pursuant to the provisions of Article 16 of the Regulations, he need not provide a separate security, except where the IPR holder fails to pay the relevant expenses pursuant to the provisions of Article 25 of the Regulations or fails to bear compensation liability pursuant to the provisions of Article 29 of the Regulations and the General Administration of Customs has issued a notice on performance of security liability to the guarantor.

Article 25   Where an IPR holder submits an application pursuant to the provisions of item (1) of the first paragraph of Article 22 of these Measures and provides a security pursuant to the provisions of Article 23 and Article 24 of these Measures, the Customs shall detain the suspected infringing goods and notify the IPR holder in writing; where the IPR holder does not submit an application or provide a security, the Customs shall release the goods.

Article 26   Where the Customs detains the suspected infringing goods, it shall serve a notice of detention of the suspected infringing goods on the consignee/consignor.

Upon consent of the Customs, the consignee/consignor may inspect the goods detained by the Customs.

Article 27   Upon detention of the suspected infringing goods, the Customs shall investigate the suspected infringing goods and other relevant situation pursuant to the law. The consignee/consignor and the IPR holder shall cooperate in the Customs investigation and provide the relevant information and evidence truthfully.

The Customs may, in its investigation into the suspected infringing goods, request the relevant intellectual property authorities in charge to provide advice and opinion.

Where the IPR holder and the consignee/consignor reach an agreement on the suspected infringing goods detained by the Customs, they shall submit a written application to the Customs and attach the relevant agreement; where the parties request the Customs to release the suspected infringing goods under detention, the Customs may terminate the investigation, except where the Customs suspects that the case constitutes a criminal offence.

Article 28   Where the Customs investigates the suspected infringing goods under detention but is unable to ascertain whether the goods have infringed upon the relevant intellectual property rights, it shall notify the IPR holder and the consignee/consignor in writing within 30 working days from the date of detention of the suspected infringing goods.

Where the Customs is unable to ascertain whether the goods have infringed the relevant patent rights, the consignee/consignor may, upon providing a security equivalent to the value of the goods to the Customs, request the Customs to release the goods. Where the Customs agrees to release the goods, it shall process the matter pursuant to the provisions of the second and third paragraphs of Article 20 of these Measures.

Article 29   Where the Customs is unable to ascertain whether the relevant goods have infringed upon the intellectual property rights, the IPR holder may apply to a People's Court pursuant to the provisions of Article 23 of the Regulations for an order to stop the infringement or adoption of property preservation measures.

Where the Customs receives a written notice on assistance in detention of the relevant goods from a People's Court within 50 working days from the date of detention of the suspected infringing goods, it shall render assistance; where the Customs does not receive a notice on assistance in detention from a People's Court or where the IPR holder requests the Customs to release the relevant goods, the Customs shall release the goods.

Article 30   Where the Customs decides on confiscation of the infringing goods, it shall notify the IPR holder in writing of the following known information:

(1) description and quantity of the infringing goods;

(2) name of the consignee/consignor;

(3) date of declaration of importation or exportation of the infringing goods, date of Customs detention and effective date of punishment decision;

(4) place of dispatch and place of destination of the infringing goods; and

(5) other information relating to the infringing goods for which the Customs can provide.

Where the People's Court or the intellectual property authorities in charge handle(s) infringement disputes between the relevant parties concerned and require(s) the assistance of the Customs in collection of evidence relating to the imports or exports, the Customs shall render assistance.

Article 31   Where the Customs discovers that articles carried by individuals or posted into and out of China are suspected of infringing upon intellectual property rights stipulated in Article 2 of the Regulations and exceed self-consumption or reasonable quantities, the Customs shall detain the articles, except where the tourist or sender or recipient renounces the articles to the Customs and obtains the consent of the Customs.

Where the Customs investigates infringing articles, the IPR holder shall render assistance. Where the inbound or outbound tourist or the sender or recipient of the inbound and outbound postal article is of the opinion that the articles detained by the Customs do not infringe the relevant intellectual property or are meant for self-consumption, he/she shall provide a written explanation of the relevant information to the Customs and provide the relevant evidence.

Article 32   Imports or exports or inbound or outbound articles which are ascertained to have infringed upon an intellectual property rights upon the Customs investigation shall be confiscated by the Customs pursuant to the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 27 and Article 28 of the Regulations; where the parties concerned are unable to be ascertained, the Customs may confiscate after three months from the date of the relevant announcement made by the Customs.

Where the infringement by the imports or exports is suspected of a criminal offence, the Customs shall transfer the case to the public security department pursuant to the law.

Chapter 5 DISPOSAL OF GOODS AND EXPENSES

Article 33   The Customs shall dispose of confiscated infringing goods pursuant to the following rules:

(1) where the relevant goods may be used directly in public welfare work or the IPR holder has the intention to acquire the goods, the goods shall be handed over to the relevant welfare institutions for use in public welfare work or transferred to the IPR holder at a fee;

(2) where the relevant goods cannot be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of item (1) and the infringement characteristics can be eliminated, the relevant goods shall be auctioned off pursuant to the law after the infringement characteristics are eliminated. The proceeds from the auction of goods shall be turned over to the Treasury; and

(3) where the relevant goods cannot be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of item (1) or item (2), they shall be destroyed.

The Customs shall seek the opinion of the relevant IPR holder before putting the infringing goods on auction. Where the Customs destroys the infringing goods, the IPR holder shall render the requisite assistance. Where relevant welfare institutions use the infringing goods confiscated by the Customs in public welfare work, and where the IPR holder is entrusted by the Customs to destroy the infringing goods, the Customs shall carry out the necessary supervision.

Article 34   Where the Customs assists a People's Court in detention of the suspected infringing goods or releases detained goods, the IPR holder shall pay for the storage, safekeeping and disposal expenses, etc, of the goods incurred during the period of Customs detention.

Where the Customs confiscates the infringing goods, the IPR holder shall pay for the storage, safekeeping and disposal expenses, etc of the goods, according to the actual storage period following the Customs detention. However if the Customs is unable to dispose of the goods within three months from the date of service of the decision on confiscation of the infringing goods by the Customs on the consignee/consignor, and the inability to dispose is not due to an application for administrative review or the filing of administrative lawsuit by the consignee/consignor or any other special reason in disposal of goods, the IPR holder need not pay the relevant expenses incurred after the three-month period.

Where the Customs puts the infringing goods on auction pursuant to the provisions of item (2) of the first paragraph of Article 33 of these Measures, the payment of auction expenses shall be handled pursuant to the relevant provisions.

Article 35   Where an IPR holder fails to pay the relevant expenses pursuant to the provisions of Article 34 of these Measures, the Customs may deduct the relevant expenses from the security deposit provided by the IPR holder or require the guarantor to perform security obligations.

Where the Customs confiscates the infringing goods, it shall, upon disposal of the goods and settlement of the relevant expenses, return the security deposit to the IPR holder or lift the security liability of the guarantor.

Where the Customs assists a People's Court in detention of the suspected infringing goods or releases the detained goods pursuant to the provisions of item (1), (2) or (4) of Article 24 of the Regulations, the consignee/consignor may apply to a People's Court for property preservation in respect of the security provided by the IPR holder. Where the Customs, within 20 working days from the date when it assists a People's Court in detention of the suspected infringing goods or releases the goods, does not received a notice on assistance of enforcement of property preservation measures from a People's Court in respect of the security provided by the IPR holder, the Customs shall return the security deposit to the IPR holder or lift the security liability of the guarantor; upon receipt of a notice on assistance of enforcement from a People's Court, the Customs shall assist in enforcement.

Article 36   After the Customs releases the detained goods suspected of infringement upon patent rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 19 of the Regulations, where an IPR holder submits a photocopy of the notice on acceptance of lawsuit of a People's Court to the Customs pursuant to the provisions of the third paragraph of Article 20 of these Measures, the Customs shall deal with the security deposit provided by the consignee/consignor according to the judgement of the People's Court; where the IPR holder has not submitted a photocopy of the notice on acceptance of lawsuit of the People's Court, the Customs shall return the security deposit provided by the consignee/consignor. The consignee/consignor may apply to a People's Court for property preservation in respect of the security provided by the IPR holder to the Customs; where the Customs has not received a notice on assistance of enforcement of property preservation measures from a People's Court in respect of the security provided by the IPR holder, the Customs shall return the security deposit to the IPR holder or lift the security liability of the guarantor after 20 working days from the date of dealing with the security deposit provided by the consignee/consignor; upon receipt of a notice on assistance of enforcement from a People's Court, the Customs shall assist in enforcement.

Chapter 6 SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 37   The Customs shall implement protection of the Olympic logo and the Expo logo with reference to these Measures.

Article 38   The term "security" referred to in these Measures shall mean security deposit and letter of security provided by a bank or a non-bank financial institution.

Article 39    The value of the goods referred to in these Measures shall be examined and determined by the Customs on the basis of the transaction price of the goods. Where the transaction price cannot be determined, the value of the goods shall be assessed by the Customs pursuant to the law.

Article 40   The written Customs notice stipulated in Article 17, Article 21 and Article 28 of these Measures may be served by hand delivery, mail, facsimile or in any other manner.

Article 41   The period stipulated in the third paragraph of Article 20 and the first paragraph of Article 22 of these Measures shall commence from the day following the date of service of the written Customs notice. The cut-off deadline of the period shall be determined pursuant to the following rules:

(1) where an IPR holder submits documents or provides a security through a post office or a bank to the Customs, the cut-off deadline shall be 24:00 hour of the expiry date of the period; or

(2) where an IPR holder submits documents or provides a security personally to the Customs, the cut-off deadline shall be the close of normal working hours of the Customs on the expiry date of the period.

Article 42   Where an IPR holder and the consignee/consignor submit photocopies of the relevant documents to the Customs pursuant to these Measures, they shall verify the photocopies against the original copies of the documents. Upon verification that the photocopies are true copies, they shall state the wordings "certified true copy against original document" on the photocopies and endorse by signature and affixation of seal.

Article 43   These Measures shall be effective from 1 July 2009. The Implementation Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights" promulgated via General Administration of Customs Order No. 114 on 25 May 2004 shall be repealed simultaneously.