海关总署令第123号

颁布日期：20041230 　实施日期：20050101 　颁布单位：海关总署

No. 123

The Provisions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on the Implementation of “the Rules of Origin of Goods under the Special Preferential Tariff Treatments Given by the People's Republic of China to the Least-developed African Countries” were adopted after deliberation at the executive meeting of the General Administration of Customs on December 29， 2004. They are hereby promulgated and shall go into effect as of January 1， 2005.

Director Mu Xinsheng

December 30， 2004

Provisions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on the Implementation of “the Rules of Origin of Goods under the Special Preferential Tariff Treatments Given by the People's Republic of China to the Least-developed African Countries”

Article 1 With a view to promoting the economic trade between China and the least-developed African countries （hereinafter referred to as the “beneficiary countries”， see the name list in Annex 1） and correctly determine the origin of goods， which are exported to China by the beneficiary countries under the special preferential tariffs treatment， the present Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China and the Rules of Origin of Goods under the Special Preferential Tariff Treatments Given by the People's Republic of China to the Least-developed African Countries.

Article 2 The present Provisions shall apply to the goods， which are imported from the beneficiary countries under the item of enjoying special preferential tariff treatments （for the list of those products， please refer to the Import and Export Tariff Regulations of the People's Republic of China）， but the goods for processing trade shall be excluded.

Article 3 If the goods directly imported from a beneficiary country are included in the list of goods under special preferential tariff treatments， their place of origin shall be determined according to the following principles：

（1） As to the products wholly obtained from a beneficiary country， their place of origin shall be the country from which the goods are obtained； and

（2） As to the products not wholly obtained from a beneficiary country， their place of origin shall be the country where the substantial processing is finally completed.

Article 4 The phrase “products wholly obtained from a beneficiary country” as mentioned in Item （1） of Article 3 of the present Provisions， namely the wholly obtained criterion， refers to the following products：

（1） The mineral products exploited or extracted from this country；

（2） The plants or their products harvested or collected from this country；

（3） The animals borne and raised in this country；

（4） The products obtained from the animals of this country as mentioned in Item （3） of this Article；

（5） The products obtained from hunting or fishing in this country；

（6） The fish and other aquatic products obtained from the high seas by vessels registered in this country or flowing the flag of this country，

（7） The products obtained from processing the products as listed in Item （6） of this Article on the processing vessels registered in this country or flowing the flag of this country；

（8） The waste and old articles that are gathered in the course of consumption in this country and that can only be used as raw materials of recycling；

（9） The waste and piecemeal materials that are generated in the course of production in this country and that can only be used as raw materials of recycling； and

（10） The products obtained from processing the products as listed in Items （1） to （9） of this Article within this country.

Article 5 If any of the following types of processing or treatment is used for any of the following purposes， no matter it is completed separately or together with the others， it shall be deemed as minor processing or treatment and shall not be taken into account in the determination about whether or not the products are wholly obtained from a beneficiary country：

（1） The processing or treatment conducted for preserving the goods in the transportation or period；

（2） The processing or treatment conducted for facilitating the loading and unloading； or

（3） The packing， exhibiting and other types of processing or treatment conducted for selling the goods.

Article 6 The criterions on the determination of “substantial processing” as mentioned in Item （2） of Article 3 of the present Provisions shall be the change of tariff code criterion or the ad valorem percentage criterion.

（1） The “ change of tariff code criterion ” refers to the change of the tariff classification of the 4-digit level in the Commodity Names and Code Coordination System for the goods obtained from a beneficiary country after they are manufactured or processed with the materials not originated in this country， and the aforesaid goods will not undergo any more production， processing or manufacturing in any other country or region that will cause any change of the classification of the 4-digit tariff items， such goods shall be deemed to have undergone substantial processing.

（2） The “ad valorem percentage criterion” refers to the total value of the materials， parts or products not originated in a beneficiary country is less than 60% of the FOB price of the products manufactured in or obtained from this beneficiary country， and the final manufacturing process is completed within this beneficiary country， the aforesaid products shall be deemed to have undergone substantial processing.

The Value of Materials Not Originated +

The Value of Materials from a Beneficiary Country of Unidentified Origin

-----------------------------------------------------------------×100%＜60%

Price of FOB

（a） The value of the materials not originated from a beneficiary country refers to the import CIF price.

（b） The value of materials of unidentified origin refers to the price paid for the materials of unidentified origin in the manufacturing or processing beneficiary country， which is determined the earliest.

The above-mentioned calculation based on the “criterion of ad valorem percentage” shall comply with the accounting standards generally accepted as well as the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

Article 7 The simple dilution， mix， packing， bottling， drying， assembly， classification or decoration shall not be deemed as substantial processing. If the production or pricing measures of an enterprise are intended to evade the present Provisions， they shall not be deemed as substantial processing.

Article 8 In the determination of the origin of goods， one may not take into account the origin of the energy， workshops， equipment， machines and tools employed during the production process of goods， nor may one take into account the origin of the materials that are employed during the production process but do not constitute any component or constituent part of the goods.

Article 9 In the determination of origin of goods， the following items shall be neglected：

（1） The packages， packing materials and containers that are declared and uniformly classified into the same category of the goods under the Import and Export Tariff Regulations of the People's Republic of China.

（2） The accessories， spare parts， tools and introductory materials accompanying that are declared and uniformly classified into the same category of the goods under the Import and Export Tariff Regulations of the People's Republic of China.

Article 10 The goods under the special preferential tariff treatments shall comply with the rules on direct transportation. The direct transportation means that：

（1） the goods are directly transported from a beneficiary country to a customs port of China；

（2） the goods transit a third country （region） but

（a） merely for the geographical reason or for the need of transportation；

（b） don't enter a third country （region） for trade or consumption；

（c） haven't undergone any other type of processing in a third country （region） except for loading， unloading and other necessary work to keep the goods in good condition；

（3） As to the imported goods that are transported by transiting a third country （region）， the following documents shall be submitted to the customs of the declaration place：

（a） The combined transport bill of lading issued by the exporting country；

（b） The certificate of origin issued by the issuing authority of the exporting country；

（c） The invoice of goods of the original producer； and

（d） The documentary evidence meeting the 3 conditions as listed in Item （2） of this Article.

Article 11 When declaring the goods under special preferential tariff treatments， the importer shall submit the certificate of origin （see the format in Annex 3） issued by the government agency designated by the exporting country （see Annex 2）。

Article 12 A certificate of origin issued by an issuing authority of a beneficiary country shall be valid for a period of 180 days as of the date of issuance. The certificate of origin shall be printed in A4 paper； the words on the face shall be in English. A certificate of origin shall consist of 1 original and 3 duplicates. The original shall be off-white and the duplicates shall be light green.

Article 13 When goods are imported， the consignee of imported goods shall offer the original certificate of origin and the second duplicate to the entry customs. The second duplicate shall be prepared for the verification where the Customs of the People's Republic of China considers necessary. The third duplicate shall be kept by the issuing authority of the exporting country. The fourth duplicate shall be kept by the exporter.

Article 14 When the goods under the special preferential treatments are exported， the customs of the exporting country shall sign and affix its seal to the certificate of origin after it ascertains that the documents conform to the goods. When declaring the imported goods， the consignee shall， on its own initiative， declare to the customs that the relevant goods are under the special preferential tariff and shall submit the certificate of origin bearing the seal of the customs of the exporting country. The entry customs shall permit the imported goods to enjoy the special preferential tariff upon check of the valid certificate of origin.

Article 15 When throwing doubt upon the authenticity of the certificate of origin， the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China or its authorized organ may， via the economic and commercial counselor's office of the embassy or consulate of China based in the corresponding beneficiary country， require the customs of the beneficiary country or the original issuing authority of the certificate of origin to conduct verification， and to give it a reply within 90 days as of the receipt of the verification request. If the customs of the beneficiary country or the original issuing authority of the certificate of origin fails to give a reply within 90 days， the goods may not enjoy the special preferential tariff treatments. If necessary， the customs of China may assign some workers to conduct first-hand investigation upon consent of the counterpart country.

During the period of waiting for the result of verification of the certificate of origin by the beneficiary country， the entry customs may， at the request of the consignee of imported goods， release the goods after it charges a sum of security equivalent to the amount of tariff calculated according to the most-favored nation rate of duty applicable to the goods， and it shall handle the entry formalities in accordance with the relevant provisions and collect the corresponding customs statistics. After the customs of the exporting country or the issuing authority of the certificate of origin completes the verification， the entry customs shall， according to the verification result， promptly handle the formalities for refunding the security or converting the security to the import tariff， and correct the relevant statistic data accordingly.

Article 16 Definitions of the following terms as mentioned in the present Provisions：

The “materials” shall include components， spare parts， constituent parts， semi-assembly and / or products that have actually constituted part of another product or has been used in the production process of another product.

The “production” refers to the ways of obtaining products， namely， planting， exploiting， harvesting， raising， breeding， extracting， collecting， gathering， capturing， fishing， entrapping， hunting， manufacturing， producing， processing or assembling products.

The “customs ports of China” refer to the ports within the area to which the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China applies.

Article 17 Anyone who violates the present Provisions shall be punished in accordance with the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China， Regulation on the Implementation of the Administrative Punishments of the Customs of People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative regulations. If any crime is constituted， he shall be prosecuted for the criminal liabilities according to law.

Article 18 The power to interpret the present Provisions shall be vested in the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China.

Article 19 The present Provisions shall go into effect as of January 1， 2005.

Annexes：

1. Name List of the African Beneficiary Countries

2. Authorities Issuing Certificates of Origin of the “Beneficiary Countries”

3. Format of Origin of Certificates （Omitted）

htm/e03830.htm

Annex 1：

Name List of the African beneficiary Countries

The “beneficiary countries” refer to the African least-developed countries that have completed the procedures for exchanging the documents on the special preferential tariff treatments with China， which include： Benin， Burundi， Cape Verde， Central African， Comoros， Democratic Republic of Congo， Djibouti， Eritrea， Ethiopia， Guinea， Guinea-Bissau， Lesotho， Liberia， Madagascar， Mali， Mauritania， Mozambique， Niger， Rwanda， Sierra Leone， Sudan， Tanzania， Togo， Uganda and Zambia.

Annex 2：

Authorities Issuing Certificates of Origin of the “beneficiary Countries”

Serial Number

Country

Issuing Authority

1

Benin

Pending

2

Burundi

Ministry of Commerce and Industry， Ministry of Finance

3

Cape Verde

Customs

4

Central African

Ministry of Planning， Economy and International Cooperation

5

Comoros

Pending

6

Democratic Republic of Congo

Pending

7

Djibouti

Deputy Director's Office of the Indirect Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Economy， Finance， Planning and Privatization

8

Eritrea

Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry

9

Ethiopia

Customs

10

Guinea

Ministry of Medium and Small Enterprises， Center for Handling Export Procedures

11

Guinea-Bissau

Pending

12

Lesotho

Lesotho Revenue Authority

13

Liberia

Ministry of Commerce and Industry

14

Madagascar

Ministry of Industry and Trade

15

Mali

Pending

16

Mauritania

Pending

17

Mozambique

Customs

18

Niger

Chamber of Commerce

19

Rwanda

Rwanda Revenue Authority

20

Sierra Leone

National Revenue Authority （including the customs subordinate to it）， Chamber of Commerce

21

Sudan

Chamber of Commerce， Ministry of Foreign Trade

22

Tanzania

Tanzania Revenue Authority （the customs subordinate to it）， Chamber of Commerce

23

Togo

Ministry of Industry， Commerce， Transportation and Bonded Areas

24

Uganda

Trade Promotion Commission

25

Zambia

Zambia Revenue Authority （the customs subordinate to it）