AQSIQ Announced the Explanation to Cross-border E-commerce Import Clearance Policy

On 15 May 2016, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ) published the explanation to cross-border e-commerce import clearance policy. The explanation includes two points shown as follows:

• According to the Regulation on Inspection and Quarantine, imported legal inspection goods should obtain Import Clearance issued by China Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (CIQ) to clear the customs. The new cross-border e-commerce policy defines the properties of cross-border e-commerce goods, and CIQ shall issue Import Clearance according to the new policy implemented on 8 April, 2016.
• To improve the clearance efficiency for cross-border e-commerce commodities, AQSIQ adopts some more convenient methods to manage custom clearance:

1. The Import Clearance only applies to online bonded purchase commodities while cross-border e-commerce direct purchase commodities are exempt from Import Clearance.

2. The issuance of Import Clearance shall be completed at the “first-line” in case small packages are cleared one by one at the “second-line”. This measure can shorten clearance process time and lower the custom clearance cost.

3. The Import Clearance can be checked online. CIQ will send electric Import Clearance to the customs directly in order to realize paperless office and enhance the clearance efficiency.

4. Only 36% commodity codes in the list are included in Legal Inspection Inventory and require Import Clearance to clear customs. Other commodities can be cleared by customs without Import Clearance.

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CIRS Comment: The highlight of this explanation is summarized in the following two parts:

• The cross-border e-commerce policy defines the properties of cross-border e-commerce goods, and Import Clearance issued by authority is needed.

• AQSIQ supports the new policy and brings convenience to border-cross e-commerce enterprises, for instance, cross-border e-commerce direct purchase commodities are exempt from Import Clearance; clearance issuance process is more convenient and only 36% codes in the list shall conduct legal inspection.

Please be noted that all food, such as general food, health food, infant milk powder and fresh food, are included in the Legal Inspection Inventory, therefore, they require Import Clearance.

Source: http://www.aqsiq.gov.cn/xxgk_13386/zvfg/zcjd/201605/t20160515_466247.htm