The “Interim Measures for the Administration of Customs Supervision Zones of the People's Republic of China” were adopted at a meeting of the General Administration of Customs on December 27, 2016, and are hereby promulgated. They shall come into effect on November 1, 2017. The “Measures for the Administration of Customs Supervision Premises of the People’s Republic of China,” promulgated by Order No. 171 of the General Administration of Customs on January 30, 2008, and Article 6 of the “Decision of the General Administration of Customs on Amending Certain Regulations,” promulgated by Order No. 227 of the General Administration of Customs on April 27, 2015, are hereby repealed simultaneously.
Director Yu Guangzhou
August 8, 2017
Interim Measures for the Administration of Customs Supervision Zones of the People's Republic of China
Chapter 1: General Provisions
Article 1 These Measures are formulated to regulate the administration of customs supervision zones, in accordance with the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative regulations.
Article 2 For the purposes of these Measures, the term “customs supervision area” refers to the premises and locations where customs authorities exercise supervision and control over means of transport, goods, and articles entering or leaving the country, as stipulated in Article 100 of the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China. This includes customs special supervision zones, bonded supervision areas, customs supervision operation areas, duty-free shops, and other premises and locations where customs supervision activities are conducted.
For the purposes of these Measures, “customs-supervised operations site” refers to a facility managed and operated by an enterprise that is used for the entry, exit, and berthing of means of transport entering or leaving the country, or means of transport carrying goods under customs supervision within the country; that engages in business activities related to the entry, exit, loading, unloading, storage, consolidation, and temporary storage of goods under customs supervision; that complies with the *Regulations on the Establishment of Customs-Supervised Operations Sites* (hereinafter referred to as the *Regulations*); and where relevant customs procedures are processed.
The “Regulations on the Establishment of Facilities” shall be separately formulated and promulgated by the General Administration of Customs.
Article 3 These Measures apply to the administration of customs supervision zones by customs authorities.
Where customs regulations contain separate provisions regarding the administration of customs special supervision zones, bonded supervision areas, and duty-free shops, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 4. Citizens, legal persons, and other organizations conducting business within customs supervision zones that is subject to approval under the law shall carry out such business in accordance with the requirements of the relevant competent authorities.
Article 5. The implementation of these Measures by the customs authorities shall not preclude other departments from performing their respective duties.
Chapter 2: Management of Customs Supervision Zones
Article 6: Customs supervision zones shall be equipped with infrastructure, inspection and examination facilities, and corresponding supervision equipment that meet customs supervision requirements.
Article 7 In accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China, the customs authorities shall exercise powers such as inspection and examination over means of transport, goods, and articles entering or leaving the customs supervision area.
Article 8. Means of transport, goods, and articles entering or leaving the country shall do so through a customs supervision zone.
Article 9: Means of transport entering or leaving the country, or means of transport carrying goods subject to customs supervision within the country, shall dock and load or unload within the customs supervision zone and complete customs formalities.
Article 10. Customs supervision procedures for goods entering or leaving the country, including entry and exit, loading and unloading, storage, consolidation, and temporary storage, shall be conducted centrally at customs supervision facilities located within customs supervision zones.
Article 11. Items entering or leaving the country shall undergo customs clearance at passenger clearance facilities or mail facilities within customs supervision zones, unless otherwise specified by the General Administration of Customs.
Article 12: Any business activities conducted within a customs supervision zone that involve means of transport, goods, or articles entering or leaving the country shall be subject to customs supervision.
Article 13: Where goods need to be temporarily imported or exported through locations where no customs office has been established—due to disaster relief, temporary reduction of cargo, shipment of perishable goods, or other special circumstances—such imports or exports shall be subject to approval by the State Council or an agency authorized by the State Council, and customs formalities shall be completed.
Chapter 3: Management of Customs Supervision Areas
Article 14. Enterprises applying to operate customs-supervised premises (hereinafter referred to as “applicants”) shall meet all of the following conditions:
(1) Possess independent corporate legal personality;
(2) Obtain business registration approval that corresponds to the scope of operations of the customs supervision facility;
(3) Possess facilities that comply with the *Standards for the Establishment of Premises*.
If the business is operated by a branch of a corporate entity, the branch must obtain authorization from the corporate entity.
Article 15. The applicant shall submit a registration application to the competent direct-level customs office or subordinate customs office (hereinafter referred to as the “competent customs office”) in the relevant jurisdiction, and shall submit the following materials:
(1) Application for Registration of an Enterprise Operating a Customs-Supervised Facility;
(2) A copy of the duplicate business license for the corporate entity;
(3) Schematic diagram of the functional layout and supervision facilities of the customs supervision area.
If the business is operated by a branch of a corporate entity, the applicant must submit a letter of authorization from the corporate entity.
Article 16. The competent customs authority shall handle matters related to administrative licensing in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Licensing Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Measures of the People’s Republic of China for the Implementation of the Administrative Licensing Law of the People’s Republic of China by the Customs. Specific measures shall be separately formulated and announced by the General Administration of Customs.
Article 17. Customs authorities may exercise supervision over customs-supervised premises through means such as video surveillance, online verification, on-site inspections, and inventory checks.
Article 18. Business operators shall, in accordance with customs supervision requirements, install access control points at the entry and exit passages of customs supervision areas and equip them with access control systems and devices connected to the customs network.
Article 19. Business operators shall, based on electronic customs release information or paper release documents, complete the procedures for the entry and exit of goods under customs supervision and related means of transport into and out of customs supervision areas.
Article 20. Business entities shall properly retain electronic data or paper documents regarding the entry, exit, and storage of goods for a period of not less than three years; customs authorities may inspect and copy such records.
Article 21. Business operators shall establish an information management system and a video surveillance system connected to the customs network at customs-supervised premises, and shall establish a wireless network with full coverage in accordance with customs supervision requirements.
Article 22. If a customs-supervised facility fails to comply with the *Facility Establishment Standards*, the operating enterprise shall immediately take measures to rectify the situation and report it to the customs authorities. The customs authorities may impose appropriate restrictive measures as necessary for administrative purposes.
Article 23. Business entities shall load, unload, store, consolidate, and temporarily store goods under customs supervision at customs-supervised premises.
Goods not under customs supervision that are being loaded, unloaded, stored, consolidated, or temporarily held must be kept separate from goods under customs supervision, clearly marked, and must not interfere with customs supervision of goods under customs supervision.
Businesses shall, in accordance with customs requirements, transmit to customs information regarding the entry and exit of goods not subject to customs supervision from customs-supervised areas.
Article 24. Business operators shall report to the customs authorities any customs-supervised goods that have been stored at customs-supervised premises for more than three months. The customs authorities may verify the storage status of such goods.
Article 25. Business entities shall establish systems for personnel management, document management, equipment management, and on-duty supervision related to relevant customs supervision operations.
Article 26: If, in the course of performing their statutory duties, customs authorities discover safety hazards related to goods under customs supervision within customs supervision areas, they shall promptly notify the competent authorities.
Article 27: Where an enterprise engages in any of the following acts, it shall be ordered to rectify the situation and given a warning; the enterprise may also be prohibited from conducting relevant business at the corresponding customs-supervised premises for a period not exceeding six months:
(1) Failing to complete entry or exit procedures at customs-supervised facilities based on electronic customs release information or paper release documents;
(2) Failure to retain electronic data or paper documents regarding the entry, exit, and storage of goods in accordance with the provisions of these Measures;
(3) Failure to promptly rectify non-compliance with the *Standards for the Establishment of Facilities* at customs supervision sites, thereby affecting customs supervision;
(4) Failing to load, unload, store, consolidate, or temporarily store goods under customs supervision in accordance with the provisions of these Measures;
(5) Failure to report to customs, in accordance with these Measures, the status of goods under customs supervision that have been stored at a customs supervision facility for more than three months.
If operations have been suspended for the reason specified in the third item of the preceding paragraph, they may be resumed early provided that the customs-supervised premises meet the requirements following corrective measures.
In the event of smuggling or a serious violation of customs supervision regulations, the customs authorities shall order the business operator to rectify the situation and suspend the relevant business operations at the affected customs-supervised premises for a period not exceeding six months.
Chapter 4 Supplementary Provisions
Article 28. Customs officials who engage in malfeasance, abuse their authority, or neglect their duties, and fail to perform the duties prescribed in these Measures in accordance with the law, shall be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the law.
Article 29. The General Administration of Customs shall be responsible for interpreting these Measures.
Article 30. These Measures shall come into effect on November 1, 2017. The “Measures for the Administration of Customs Supervision Areas of the People’s Republic of China,” promulgated by Order No. 171 of the General Administration of Customs on January 30, 2008, and Article 6 of the “Decision of the General Administration of Customs on Amending Certain Regulations,” promulgated by Order No. 227 of the General Administration of Customs on April 27, 2015, are hereby repealed simultaneously.
General Administration of Customs
August 14, 2017