Agriculture & Food

Summary of amendments to some regulations of the Ministry of Commerce:

1. In the "Measures for the Record and Registration of Foreign Trade Operators", if the foreign trade operator is a foreign-invested enterprise, it is not necessary to submit a copy of the foreign-invested enterprise approval certificate.

2. In the "Measures for the Qualification of Enterprises for the Implementation of Foreign Aid Projects (Trial)", to apply for the qualification of a general contracting enterprise for a complete set of projects, it is not necessary to submit a qualification certificate for foreign contracting projects.

3. In the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products", if processing trade enterprises sell bonded imported materials or finished products of tariff quota agricultural products in the country without permission, they shall be subject to the "Customs Law of the People's Republic of China" and "China Customs Law". The relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Implementation of Customs Administrative Penalties of the People’s Republic of China shall be dealt with.

Ministry of Commerce Order No. 2 of 2021 Decision of the Ministry of Commerce on Repealing and Amending Some Regulations

[Issuing Unit] Articles and Laws Department

[Release Document Number] Order of the Ministry of Commerce No. 2 of 2021

[Posting date] May 10, 2021

The "Decision of the Ministry of Commerce on Repealing and Amending Some Regulations" has been deliberated and adopted at the 32nd ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Commerce on April 22, 2021. It is hereby promulgated and shall come into force on the date of promulgation.

Minister Wang Wentao

May 10, 2021

Decision of the Ministry of Commerce on Repealing and Amending Some Regulations

In accordance with the requirements of the relevant regulations for clean-up work, the Ministry of Commerce now decides:

1. Repeal 4 regulations

(1) Decided to abolish the "Measures for Declaration of Concentration of Business Operators" (Order No. 11 of the Ministry of Commerce 2009).

(2) Decided to abolish the "Measures for the Review of Concentration of Business Operators" (Order No. 12 of the Ministry of Commerce 2009).

(3) Decided to abolish the "Interim Measures for the Investigation and Handling of Concentrations of Business Operators Not Declared According to Law" (Order No. 6 of the Ministry of Commerce 2011).

(4) Decided to abolish the "Regulations on Additional Restrictive Conditions for the Concentration of Business Operators (for Trial Implementation)" (Order No. 6 of the Ministry of Commerce 2014).

2. Revise 3 regulations

(1) Decided to delete the "Measures for the Filing and Registration of Foreign Trade Operators" (Order of the Ministry of Commerce 2004 No. 14 of the Ministry of Commerce Order 2016 No. 2 of the Ministry of Commerce Order 2019 No. 1 revision) Article 5, paragraph 2, item 3 Item 3 "If the foreign trade operator is a foreign-invested enterprise, a copy of the foreign-invested enterprise approval certificate shall also be submitted."

(2) Decided to delete the "Foreign Aid Project Operation Qualification Certificate" in Article 12 of the "Measures for the Qualification of Enterprises Implementing Foreign Aid Projects (for Trial Implementation)" (Ministry of Commerce Order No. 1 of 2015, revised by Ministry of Commerce Order No. 1 of 2019) ".

(3) With the approval of the Business Development and Reform Commission, it has decided to amend Article 27 of the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products" (Ministry of Commerce and Development and Reform Commission Order No. 4, 2003, and the Ministry of Commerce Order No. 1, 2019). : "A processing trade enterprise that sells bonded imported materials or finished products of tariff quota agricultural products in the country without permission shall be in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Customs Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Regulations on the Implementation of Customs Administrative Penalties of the People's Republic of China" deal with."

The "Measures for the Filing and Registration of Foreign Trade Operators", "Measures for the Qualification of Enterprises Implementing Foreign Aid Projects (for Trial Implementation)", and "Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products" will be revised and re-announced accordingly.

Measures for the Filing and Registration of Foreign Trade Operators.docx

Measures for Qualification Accreditation of Enterprises Implementing Foreign Aid Projects (for Trial Implementation).docx

Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products.docx

Interim Measures for the Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products

(Ministry of Commerce, Development and Reform Commission Order No. 4 of 2003, according to Ministry of Commerce Order No. 1 of 2019 "Decision of the Ministry of Commerce on Repealing and Amending Certain Regulations" and Ministry of Commerce Order No. 2 of 2021 "Ministry of Commerce on Repeal And the Decision to Amend Part of the Regulations "Revision)

Chapter One General Provisions

Article 1 In order to effectively implement agricultural import tariff quota management, establish a unified, fair, just, transparent, predictable and non-discriminatory agricultural import tariff quota management system, in accordance with the "Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Customs Law of the People's Republic of China" "The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of Import and Export of Goods" and the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Tariffs" formulate these measures.

Article 2 In the Gregorian calendar year, the annual market access quantity of agricultural products subject to import tariff quota management shall be determined according to the quota volume promised by China's entry into the WTO’s Trade in Goods Schedule.

The tariff quota tax rate shall be applied to the agricultural products imported within the tariff quota volume, and the agricultural products imported outside the quota volume shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on Import and Export Tariffs of the People's Republic of China".

The overfilling of bulk cargo shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Article 19, paragraph 2 of these Measures.

Article 3 The varieties of agricultural products subject to import tariff quota management are: wheat (including its flour and grain, hereinafter referred to as wheat), corn (including its flour and grain, hereinafter referred to as corn), rice (including its flour and grain, hereinafter referred to as rice) ), sugar, cotton, wool and wool tops.

The corresponding tax items and applicable tax rates for agricultural products under tariff quota management will be announced separately.

Article 4 Import tariff quotas for wheat, corn, rice, sugar, and cotton are divided into state-run trade quotas and non-state-run trade quotas. State-owned trade quotas must be imported through state-owned trading companies; non-state-owned trade quotas must be imported through enterprises with trading rights, and end users with trading rights can also import by themselves.

Article 5 The import tariff quotas of agricultural products are global quotas.

Article 6 The import of all agricultural products that meet the requirements of Article 3 shall be included in the scope of tariff quota management.

Article 7 The import tariff quotas for sugar, wool and wool tops shall be allocated by the Ministry of Commerce.

Import tariff quotas for wheat, corn, rice, and cotton are allocated by the National Development and Reform Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Development and Reform Commission") in conjunction with the Ministry of Commerce.

Article 8 The Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission respectively entrust the provincial-level commerce department and the provincial-level development and reform department (hereinafter referred to as the entrusting agency) to be responsible for the following matters:

(1) Receive applications from applicants and forward the application materials to the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission;

(2) Accepting consultations and relaying them to the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission;

(3) Notifying applicants of non-compliance with the requirements in their application and reminding them to make corrections;

(4) Issuing the "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate") to approved applicants.

The list of entrusted institutions will be announced separately.

Article 9 The "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" is applicable to general trade, processing trade, barter trade, border small trade, aid, donation and other trade methods for import.

Products that enter bonded supervision sites and special customs supervision areas from abroad are exempt from obtaining the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate".

Chapter 2 Application

Article 10 The application period for import tariff quotas of agricultural products is from October 15th to 30th each year (except for the first-come, first-collected distribution method based on the contract). One month before the application period, the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission will respectively register on the website of the Ministry of Commerce (http://www.mofcom.gov.cn, the same below) and the website of the National Development and Reform Commission (http://www.mofcom.gov.cn). .ndrc.gov.cn, the same below) announces the total amount of import tariff quotas for each agricultural product in the next year, the application conditions, and the tariff items and applicable tax rates of tariff quota agricultural products for the current year determined by the Tariff Commission of the State Council.

Sugar, wool and wool tops are announced by the Ministry of Commerce. Wheat, corn, rice, and cotton are announced by the Development and Reform Commission.

Article 11: The agency entrusted by the Ministry of Commerce is responsible for receiving applications for import tariff quotas for sugar, wool and wool tops in the local area.

The National Development and Reform Commission entrusts an agency to be responsible for receiving applications for import tariff quotas for wheat, corn, rice, and cotton in the region.

Article 12 The agency entrusted by the Ministry of Commerce shall accept the sugar, wool, wool top applications and related materials submitted by the applicants according to the announced conditions, and forward the application materials to the Ministry of Commerce before November 15 (the distribution method is first-come-first-received according to the contract) Except), and copy it to the Development and Reform Commission at the same time.

The agency entrusted by the Development and Reform Commission will accept applications and related materials submitted by applicants for wheat, corn, rice, and cotton in accordance with the announced conditions, and forward the application materials to the Development and Reform Commission before November 15th, and at the same time copy them to the Ministry of Commerce.

Chapter Three Distribution

Article 13 The import tariff quotas of agricultural products will be allocated according to the number of applicants and previous import performance, production capacity, other relevant commercial standards, or on a first-come, first-served basis. The minimum quantity allocated will be determined based on the commercially viable shipping volume of each agricultural product.

Article 14 Before January 1 of each year, the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission shall issue the "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" to end users through their respective entrusted agencies, and affix the "Special Seal of the Ministry of Commerce Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" or "National Development And the Special Seal of the Reform Commission’s Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate".

State-run trade quotas are indicated on the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate".

Chapter IV Time Limit

Article 15 The annual import tariff quotas for agricultural products shall be implemented on January 1 of each year and shall be effective in the Gregorian calendar year. The "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" is valid from January 1 to December 31 of that year.

The validity period of the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate", which implements the first-come, first-received distribution method based on the contract, shall be implemented in accordance with the published implementation rules.

Article 16 For the import tariff quota agricultural products shipped from the port of departure before December 31 of the current year and need to arrive in the next year, the end user shall apply to the original issuing agency with the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" and relevant certification documents. extension. The original license-issuing agency may apply for an extension after the verification is true, but the extension shall not exceed the end of February of the next year at the latest.

Chapter 5 Implementation

Article 17 The end user shall sign the import contract by himself or by entrustment in accordance with the relevant regulations of the country on the import and operation of relevant commodities.

Article 18 For processing trade imports of agricultural products subject to tariff quota management, the customs shall go through customs clearance procedures on the basis of the "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" submitted by the enterprise that indicates "processing trade" in the "Trade Mode" column.

If a processing trade enterprise fails to process and re-export within the prescribed time limit, it shall go through processing trade verification and write-off procedures within 30 days after the expiration date. The customs shall implement the relevant regulations on processing trade.

Article 19 The "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" implements a multi-batch system, that is, if the end user needs to import in multiple batches, the "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" can go through the customs clearance procedures multiple times. The end user must truthfully fill in the "End User Import Filling Column" of the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate", and after filling it, he needs to take the certificate to the original issuing authority to renew the quota certificate for the part that has not been cleared.

The overfill volume of each batch of imported bulk cargo shall not exceed 5% of the batch.

Article 20 The tariff quota agricultural products that have entered bonded supervision sites and special customs supervision areas from abroad shall be inspected and released by the customs in accordance with current regulations and supervised.

For tariff-quota agricultural products that are exported from or imported from bonded supervision sites and special customs supervision areas, the customs shall handle the import procedures in accordance with the relevant provisions of the management of imported goods on the strength of the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate".

Article 21 The end user shall, within 20 working days after completing the last batch of import declaration in the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" indicating the quota volume, submit the first copy of the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" signed by the customs (received The original copy of the cargo owner's customs clearance) shall be submitted to the original issuing agency.

The end user shall submit the original copy of the first copy of the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" (the copy of the consignee's customs procedures) that has not been used up this year to the original issuing agency before the end of January of the next year.

Chapter VI Adjustment

Article 22. The amount of import tariff quotas for state-owned agricultural products allocated to end users. If the contract is not signed before August 15 of the current year, the end user can entrust any enterprise with trading rights to import; end users with trading rights can import by themselves .

Article 23 End users who hold agricultural import tariff quotas cannot sign import contracts for all the quotas they have applied for in the current year or they cannot complete the signed contracts. They must return the quotas that cannot be completed before September 15th. Certification agency.

Article 24 The application period for the redistribution of import tariff quotas for agricultural products is from September 1 to 15 each year (except for the first-come, first-received distribution method based on the contract). The applicant’s application materials must be forwarded separately by the entrusting agency and copied to the Ministry of Commerce or the National Development and Reform Commission at the same time.

The Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission announced the application conditions for the redistribution of import tariff quotas for agricultural products on the website of the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission respectively one month before the application period.

Sugar, wool and wool tops are announced by the Ministry of Commerce. Wheat, corn, rice, and cotton are announced by the Development and Reform Commission.

Article 25. All the assigned import tariff quotas for agricultural products have been completed before the end of August of the current year, and the original copy of the first copy of the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" signed by the customs (the copy for the consignee to go through customs procedures) shall be delivered to the original The end user of the certificate authority may apply for the redistribution of tariff quotas.

Article 26 Before September 30 each year, the Ministry of Commerce will allocate the redistribution of import tariff quotas for sugar, wool, and wool tops to end users (except for the first-come-first-collection distribution method based on the contract); The redistribution of tariff quotas on corn, rice, and cotton is distributed to end users.

The amount of tariff quota redistribution shall be allocated on a first-come, first-collected basis in accordance with the published application conditions. The minimum quantity allocated will be determined based on the commercially viable shipping volume of each agricultural product.

End users who have obtained the redistributed quota can import through enterprises with trading rights, and enterprises with trading rights can also import by themselves.

Chapter 7 Penalty Provisions

Article 27 If a processing trade enterprise sells bonded import materials or finished products of tariff quota agricultural products in the country without permission, it shall be in accordance with the "Customs Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Regulations on the Implementation of Customs Administrative Penalties of the People's Republic of China." Related regulations.

Article 28 Anyone who forges, alters, or buys and sells the "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws for the crime of illegal business operations or the crime of forging, altering, or buying and selling official documents, certificates, and seals of state agencies. . If an end user holding a tariff quota has the above behavior, the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission will no longer accept applications for tariff quotas on imported agricultural products within two years.

Article 29 Anyone who fraudulently obtains the "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" by forging relevant materials shall not accept its import tariff quota application for two years, except for the collection of his "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" according to law.

Article 30 The end user violated the provisions of Article 23 of these Measures by failing to complete the allocation of all the import tariff quotas of agricultural products in the current year, and as of September 15th, it failed to return the quotas that could not be imported in the current year. In the case of certification agencies, the amount of tariff quotas allocated for the next year will be deducted according to the unfinished proportion.

Article 31 The end user has failed to allocate all its agricultural product import tariff quotas for two consecutive years, and shall return the unusable tariff quotas of the current year to the entrusted original issuing agency before September 15 of each year within the two years. , The amount of tariff quota allocated for the next year will be deducted according to the proportion that has not been completed in the most recent year.

Article 32 The end user violates the provisions of Article 21 of these Measures by failing to submit the original copy of the "Agricultural Product Import Tariff Quota Certificate" signed by the customs (the copy of the consignee's customs formalities) to the original for issuance within the prescribed time. For institutions, it is deemed that the import has not been completed, and the tariff quota amount for the next year will be deducted accordingly.

Article 33 For smuggling imported tariff quota agricultural products, the amount of tax evasion and tax evasion shall be calculated at the tax rate applicable to imports outside the tariff quota amount, and punishment shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative regulations.

Chapter 8 Supplementary Provisions

Article 34 Inquiries concerning the allocation and redistribution of import tariff quotas for agricultural products shall be submitted in written form to the Ministry of Commerce, the Development and Reform Commission or the entrusting agency, and the Ministry of Commerce, the Development and Reform Commission or the entrusting agency will respond within 10 working days. .

Article 35 "Agricultural Product Import Customs

The "Tax Quota Certificate" and the "Special Seal for Import Tariff Quota Certificate of Agricultural Products" are produced under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce and the Development and Reform Commission respectively.

Article 36 The "Agricultural Import Tariff Quota Certificate" has the following columns: end-user registration area, tariff-quota certificate number, end-user name, tariff-quota certificate validity period, trade method, commodity name, arrangement quantity, state-run trade volume, issuance The date of the certificate and the port of declaration must be printed by computer. The end user who needs to change the port of customs declaration shall go to the original issuing agency to modify and renew the certificate.

Article 37 The purchase of foreign exchange for the import of tariff quota agricultural products shall be implemented in accordance with relevant state regulations.

Article 38 The state-owned trading enterprises in these Measures refer to the enterprises that the government has granted exclusive privileges for the import of certain products.

The list of state trading enterprises shall be verified and announced by the Ministry of Commerce.

Article 39 The end users in these Measures are manufacturers, traders, wholesalers and distributors who have directly applied for import tariff quotas for agricultural products.

Article 40 These Measures shall come into effect on the date of promulgation, and the 2003 agricultural import tariff quotas shall be implemented in accordance with the original "Interim Measures for the Administration of Agricultural Import Tariff Quotas" (Order No. 19 of the National Development Planning Commission).