Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of the Import and Export of Goods (2024 Revision)

Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of the Import and Export of Goods (2024 Revision)

Promulgated in accordance with the Order No. 332 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on December 10, 2001; revised in accordance with the Decision of the State Council to Amend and Repeal Certain Administrative Regulations March 10, 2024)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 The present Regulation has been enacted according to the relevant provisions of the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Foreign Trade Law) for the purpose of standardizing the administration of the import and export of goods, maintaining the order of import and export of goods and promoting the healthy development of foreign trade.

Article 2 The present Regulation shall be observed in the importation of goods to within the customs boundary of the People's Republic of China or exportation of goods to beyond the customs boundary of the People's Republic of China.

Article 3 The state exercises uniform administration over the import and export of goods.

Article 4 The state allows the free importation and exportation of goods and maintains the fairness and orderliness of the import and export of goods according to law.

Unless it is clearly provided in laws or administrative regulations to forbid or restrict the import or export of goods, no entity or individual may establish or maintain prohibitive or restrictive measures over the import or export of goods.

Article 5 The People's Republic of China grants the most-favored-nation treatment or national treatment to other contracting parties or member states to the international treaties or pacts that it has concluded or acceded to, or grants the most-favored-nation treatment or national treatment to its counterparts according to the principle of mutual benefit and reciprocity.

Article 6 Any country or region that takes discriminatory prohibitive or restrictive measures or other similar measures against the People's Republic of China in terms of the import or export of goods, it may, according to the specific situations, take corresponding measures against such country or region.

Article 7 The department of the State Council in charge of foreign trade and economic cooperation (hereinafter referred to as the foreign trade department of the State Council) takes charge of the import and export of goods within the whole country according to the provisions of the Foreign Trade Law and the present Regulation.

The relevant departments of the State Council shall, on the basis of the functions and duties as determined by the State Council, be responsible for the administration of the import and export of goods according to the provisions of the present Regulation.

Chapter II The Administration of Import of Goods Section I The Goods Prohibited from Importation

Section I The Goods Limited in Importation

Article 8 In any of the circumstances as provided in Article 16 of the Foreign Trade Law, the goods concerned shall be prohibited from importation. If there are relevant provisions in other laws or regulations on prohibiting the importation of goods, such provisions shall be abided by.

The list of goods prohibited from importation shall be formulated, adjusted and promulgated by the foreign trade department of the State Council in collaboration with other relevant departments of the State Council.

Article 9 No goods that are prohibited from importation may be imported.

Section II

Article 10 In any of the circumstances as provided in Clauses 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Article 15 of the Foreign Trade Law, the goods concerned shall be limited in importation. Where there are provisions in other laws or regulations on limiting the importation of goods, such provisions shall be abided by.

The list of goods limited in importation shall be formulated, adjusted and promulgated by the foreign trade department of the State Council in collaboration with other relevant departments of the State Council.

The list of goods limited in importation shall be promulgated at least 21 days prior to the implementation thereof; where the circumstances are urgent, it shall be promulgated at no later than the day of implementation.

Article 11 Where there are quantitative limits of the state on the goods limited in importation, the goods shall be subject to the administration of quotas, and other goods limited in importation shall be subject to the administration of licenses.

When importing the goods subject to the administration of quotas in customs tariffs, the provisions of Section IV of the present Chapter shall be followed.

Article 12 The goods limited in importation that are under the administration of quotas shall be subject to the administration of the foreign trade department of the State Council and the relevant economic administrative departments of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as administrative departments of import quotas) on the basis of the functions and duties as provided by the State Council.

Article 13 For the goods limited in importation that are under the administration of quotas, the administrative departments of import quotas shall promulgate the total amount of import quotas for the next year at no later than July 31 of each year.

An applicant of quotas shall apply to the administrative departments of import quotas for the next year between August 1 and 31 of each year.

The administrative departments of import quotas shall allocate the quotas for the next year to the quota applicants before October 31 of each year.

The administrative departments of import quotas may, where it is necessary, make adjustments to the total amount of the year and promulgate it at 21 days prior to its implementation.

Article 14 The quotas may be allocated according to the principle of uniform handling of all applications.

Article 15 Where the quotas are allocated according to the principle of uniform handling of all applications, the administrative departments of import quotas shall decide whether to grant quotas or not within 60 days prior to the prescribed deadline for filing applications.

Article 16 When allocating quotas, the administrative departments of import quotas shall take the following elements into consideration:

1. The performances of the applicant in import;

2. Whether the quotas in the past have been fully used;

3. The productive capacity, management scale and the sales of the applicant;

4. The applications filed by new import business operators;

5. The quantity of quotas applied;

6. Other elements that need to be considered.

Article 17 An import business operator shall present the quotas certificate issued by the administrative departments of import quotas to the customs offices for handling the formalities of customs declaration and examination.

The relevant economic administrative departments of the State Council shall report such information as the total amount of quotas of the year, the plans of allocation, the issuance of quota certificates, etc to the foreign trade department of the State Council for archivist purposes.

Article 18 A holder of quotas who has not used up its quotas for the year shall return the unused quotas to the administrative departments of import quotas prior to September 1 of the current year. In case it fails to return the unused quotas and fails to use them up by the end of the current year, the administrative departments of import quotas may make corresponding deductions to the quotas of the holder for the next year.

Article 19 For the goods limited in importation that are subject to the administration of licenses, the import business operators shall file applications to the foreign trade department of the State Council or relevant departments of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the administrative departments of import licenses). The administrative departments of import licenses shall decide whether to grant a license or not within 30 days after receiving the application.

The import business operators shall present the import license issued by the administrative departments of import quotas to the customs office for handling the formalities of customs declaration and examination.

The term “import license” as mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall refer to the various kinds of certificates and documents that are of import nature as provided in laws and administrative regulations.

Article 20 The administrative departments of import quotas and the administrative departments of export licenses shall, on the basis of the provisions of the present Regulation, formulate specific measures of administration so as to clarify the qualifications of the applicant, the departments for accepting applications, the principles and procedures of inspections, etc. and shall promulgate the measures prior to their implementation.

The department for accepting applications shall, as a general rule, be one department.

The documents requested by the administrative departments of import quotas and the administrative departments of import licenses for submission shall be limited to those documents and materials that are necessary for effecting the administration and the departments may not refuse to accept the applications under the pretext of trifle, immaterial mistakes or errors.

Section III The Goods Subject to Free Importation

Article 21 The goods subject to free importation shall not be limited.

Article 22 The foreign trade department of the State Council and the relevant economic administrative departments of the State Council may, on the basis of the demand for monitoring the importation of goods, exercise automatic import license administration over some of the goods subject to free importation according to the functions and duties determined by the State Council.

The list of goods that are under automatic import license administration shall be promulgated at no later than 21 days prior to its implementation.

Article 23 The import of goods that are under automatic import license administration shall be allow......