Joint Announcement of Beijing and Tianjin No. 6

To implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on improving the business environment, promote the implementation of the Regulations on Improving the Business Environment, and continue to improve the business environment at Beijing ports and Tianjin ports, Beijing and Tianjin have jointly launched the sixth batch of specific reform and innovation measures to facilitate trading across borders in light of the actual situation. The Announcement is hereby made as follows:

I. Further simplify documents handling

1. Simplify documents attached to customs declaration. Starting from February 1, 2020, enterprises shall not be required to submit packing lists to the customs at the import declaration step, and shall not be required to submit packing lists and invoices to the customs at the export declaration step.

2. Cancel or simplify the handling of import and export license certificates. An enterprise shall no longer be required to provide a copy of its business license, a copy of the registration form of foreign operator, a copy of the approval or archival receipt of foreign-funded enterprise, a copy of the ID card, etc. The aforementioned materials shall be checked by the government's internal network.

3. Promote electronic import and export licenses. On the basis of canceling 118 import licenses and fully realizing paperless import license application and customs clearance, paperless export license application and customs clearance shall be implemented for goods subject to restricted export administration from January 1, 2020, in order to realize online declaration, online handling and online verification.

4. Implement electronic payment certificate for delayed declaration fees. Starting from January 17, 2020, the consignee of import goods may print the Unified Bill of Central Non-tax Revenue by himself/herself through the standard version of International Trade Single Window and "Internet + Customs".

5. Promote paperless documents for port logistics. A paperless platform for container equipment interchange receipts shall be built at Tianjin Port, and electronic information transmission of container equipment interchange receipts shall be realized among shipping agents, storage yards and container users by the end of April. Paperless bills of lading shall be promoted, and international liner companies (shipping companies) shall be instructed to adopt electronic bills of lading on a trial basis and the relevant parties to international trade shall be asked to receive electronic bills of lading.

II. Deepen the reform of customs clearance and declaration modes

6. Promote "declaration in advance" for imports and exports. The error tolerance mechanism for "declaration in advance" shall be improved, and an Internet "Customs-Enterprise Cooperation Platform" shall be opened so that enterprises may conduct online review of customs declaration errors in "declaration in advance", so as to improve efficiency and the proportion of "declaration in advance".

7. Popularize the reform of "two-step declaration" in an all-round way. Starting from January 1, 2020, domestic import consignees or agents with a general credit rating or above may adopt "two-step declaration" for the actual imported goods through the International Trade Single Window or the "Internet + Customs" integrated online service platform. They may also carry out the brief declaration of goods not involved in certification, inspection and taxation through the "e-Customs" APP. If necessary, enterprises may carry out "two-step declaration" using the import function of International Trade Single Window.

8. Establish an error tolerance mechanism for two-step declaration. Declaration errors shall not be recorded if an enterprise modifies the import date, or changes the means of transport for goods due to loading, load planning and other factors under the "two-step declaration" mechanism.

If the errors are not required to be recorded, customs declaration entities may file an application with the customs for review via the "Customs-Enterprise Cooperation Platform" within 15 days from the date when the errors are made. If the application for review conforms to the above situation of not recording the declaration errors, and the management department of the relevant customs declaration entity have corrected the error after verification, declaration entity shall not longer be required to go to the site and submit paper applications and relevant explanatory documents. The time for review shall be reduced from 15 working days to 3 working days, and the declaration error record after review and correction shall no longer be used by the customs to assess the credit of the enterprise.

9. For imported auto parts that are exempted from 3C certification, "declaration before verification" shall be carried out. With consignee's Self-declaration of Exemption from Compulsory Product Certification, declaration procedures can be handled in accordance with the Guide for Declaration of Imported Auto Parts Exempted from Compulsory Product Certification. After the goods leave the port and arrive at the destination, the exemption from 3C certification shall be verified.

III. Further optimize regulatory approaches

10. Optimize the setting of inspection instructions reasonably and improve the proportion of random sampling and inspection. If an enterprise has an urgent need, its inspection and quarantine procedures may be handled with priority in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, so as to improve the inspection efficiency reasonably.

11. Promote vigorously the mode of centralized image examination at machine inspection and expand the coverage of intelligent image examination at Beijing ports and Tianjin ports.

12. Encourage enterprises to take the initiative to disclose tax violations. For enterprises that voluntarily report violations and such reporting actions are confirmed by the customs to be within the scope of active disclosure, they may be given a lighter, mitigated or exempted from administrative punishment. If, after the release of goods, the taxpayer discovers through self-inspection that the duty has been underpaid or not paid, takes the initiative to disclose the situation and makes up the payment, the customs may reduce or exempt the late payment fee according to the law.

13. Expand facilitation measures for authorized economic operators (AEOs). The scope of exemption from guarantee for AEOs shall be expanded, and the control rate and inspection rate for AEOs shall be reduced. The exclusive coordinator system for AOEs shall be implemented to provide accurate support for enterprises in facilitating trading across borders.

14. Promote inspection and regulation facilitation measures. For imported auto parts that are subject to commodity inspection only, the enterprise may directly take them away to the destination, and the customs at the destination shall conduct on-site inspection and sampling inspection. When an enterprise has an urgent need, priority may be given to its inspection in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

For all imported auto parts involving in 3C certification, the customs shall accept the certificate issued by the certification agency recognized by the certification and accreditation authority during the inspection. In principle, sampling inspection shall not be carried out.

IV. Improve port operation services

15. Strengthen infrastructure construction at Tianjin ports. The construction of an intelligent container terminal in Section C of Beijiang Port shall be carried out, and container cranes and yard cranes shall be updated so as to further improve the load capability of the terminal. The construction of enclosed inspection sites at Dongtudi of Beijiang Port and Pacific Quay of Dongjiang Port shall be completed, and supporting facilities for the manual inspection at the ports shall be provided. The cooperation mechanism between customs and ports shall be fully used, and based on the newly built customs inspection sites at ports, commodity channel inspection and embedded inspection shall be promoted so as to reduce the time cost.

16. Accelerate the construction of an intelligent container terminal at Tianjin ports. The driverless container truck is used as a horizontal means of transport, and the comprehensive perception, ubiquitous interconnection and vehicle-road coordination are realized through the high-precision map and 5G network, so as to build an intelligent container terminal. The large-scale application of intelligent cargo tallying and driverless electric container trucks shall be fully promoted to make ports operation and management smarter.

17. International liner companies (shipping companies) and shipping agents are encouraged to release documents before ships arrive at ports, and import enterprises are encouraged to go through the formalities of changing documents and placing containers in advance. Shipping companies are encouraged to provide online direct selling of export space; export enterprises are encouraged to book space through online direct selling.

18. Promote the mode of "declaration in advance + direct pick-up by vessel side" for imports at Tianjin ports. Enterprises shall be encouraged to apply such mode, and every effort shall be made to ensure the operation efficiency of "direct pick-up by vessel side" for imported goods.

V. Promote the application of Single Window for International Trade

19. Starting from December 16, 2019, the declaration of import and export goods, declaration of manifest and declaration of means of transport shall all be handled through the Single Window for international trade. Other declaration channels shall only be used in case of emergency.

20. Accelerate the expansion of the China (Beijing) International Trade Single Window to bonded areas, free trade zones and ports in Beijing and Tianjin, expand the application areas of cross-border trade insurance and air freight, enhance the comprehensive service functions, and provide market players with "one-stop" customs clearance logistics information services.

21. Promote the cooperation and information exchange among different entities such as the Single Window for international trade, supervision information, flight (shipping date) information, port logistics, shipping agents and freight forwarders in Beijing and Tianjin. Information sharing, business collaboration and resource integration in the areas of international trade and transportation shall be promoted, and the integration of "customs clearance + logistics" services at ports shall be pushed forward, so as to facilitate the inquiry by enterprises and enhance the expectations of import and export enterprises.

VI. Continue to improve efficiency and lower fees at ports

22. Optimize the transparent price structure, implement Transparent Price Version 3.0 at Tianjin ports, and create a mode of "Three Transparent Services" featuring "one-stop transparent price + good services + efficient work", so as to comprehensively improve the operation efficiency and service level at ports.

23. Strengthen publicity and promotion, expand the influence of transparent price and the number of franchised stores at Tianjin ports, encourage and support Beijing-based freight forwarding enterprises to join the "one-stop good service" at Tianjin ports, and expand the coverage of transparent price.

24. Continue to regulate port charges. The management of catalogues and lists of port charges shall be strengthened, and the system of publicizing catalogues and lists of port charges shall be implemented. Acts such as compulsory charging, monopolistic charging, charging without providing services, and arbitrary charging shall be investigated and addressed in accordance with the law. Freight forwarding, customs clearance and other trade associations shall be encouraged to publish catalogues of basic charges, make clear the prices of basic services, implement measures to reduce fees, and effectively reduce costs of border compliance.

Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau (Port Office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality)

Tianjin Commission of Commerce (Port Office of the People's Government of Tianjin Municipality)

Beijing Customs District, People's Republic of China

Tianjin Customs District, People's Republic of China

February 10, 2020