Chinese authorities have scrapped a series of customs requirements in a bid to boost its export-oriented seafood firms.
Exporters will be exempted from several documents and licenses, according to a document from the General Administration of Customs issued Monday, 31 August.
Chinese seafood importers or their agents will no longer be required to submit a certificate of origin of “imported aquatic products” to customs at their goods’ port of entry. The certificate of origin has typically been issued by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Bureau (previously called the Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine, or AQSIQ) to firms allowed to import.
On the export side, enterprises are no longer required to submit “self-inspection” paperwork requirements detailing “auxiliary materials” or ingredients used in the processing of meat and aquatic products. Likewise, exporters are no longer required to register details of the factory source of aquafeed used to feed imported seafood. Similarly, water quality-monitoring reports will no longer be required for aquatic products being exported.
To “lift the burden” on Chinese exporters of feed and feed additives, Chinese Customs has also canceled the requirement that feed companies must register their products, provided there is no registration requirement in the importing country or region.
The changes are part of the Chinese government’s effort to “thoroughly implement” a raft of measures from the State Council to cut taxes and fees on business in order to stimulate the economy.
The announcement is part of a series of measures by China’s government, which has said its focus is economic growth through what it calls the “six stabilities” – stable employment, finance, trade, foreign investment, investment, and expectations – along with “six guarantees” – stable employment, “basic livelihood,” the avoidance of bankruptcies, food and energy safety, and stable supply chains.
Many of the canceled requirements are focused on making the process of exporting easier for Chinese firms, with little changing for paperwork required by foreign companies or nations receiving China’s exports or sending goods to China.
China’s fruit exporters have received a special carve-out, as they will be exempt from supplying paperwork on any toxic substances that might have been applied to their crops. Likewise, fruit and vegetable processing firms shipping to Hong Kong and Macau are no longer required to supply paperwork on water quality at their processing plants.
China’s exporting companies have long had to show authorities a stack of documents giving assurances on their quality-control processes to get their goods out of the country, including the “qualifying company” stamp that allows them to export in the first place. Aside from China’s Customs Department, the State Administration for Market Regulation Bureau has traditionally served as a gatekeeper for goods entering and leaving China, while also providing briefings and training to exporters on the requirements of various importing nations.
Photo courtesy of GQ/Shutterstock
