The Custom Administration recently announced the draft regulation on custom categorisation scheme for enterprises. The proposed regulation allows category B enterprises to upgrade to Category A and enjoy the convenient arrangement at Mainland Customs. Full-text of the draft can be viewed at the following link:
http://www1.customs.gov.cn/Portals/0/ywdt/1219中华人民共和国海关企业分类管理办法.doc
Highlights of the Draft include:
1. Adding a New Category—Category AA
In addition to the existing four categories—ABCD, a new category of AA comes into the scheme and enjoys the same beneficial treatment as category A. Category B enterprise can be upgraded to Category A enterprise after maintaining the B status for a year, and Category A enterprise can be upgraded to Category AA after maintaining the A status for a year.
2. Loosening the Entry Threshold for Category A
¨ Annual export and import volume exceed 500,000 USD (the current threshold is 30 million USD)；
¨ No record of smuggling for 1 year (the current regulation is 6 months)；
¨ No unpaid custom fines for 1 year (the current regulation is 2 years)；
¨ No record of violation of intellectual property rights for 1 year；
¨ Annual submission of a report on the enterprise’s operation and management
3. Category Status can be Inherited
A new enterprise can inherit the category status from its former parent company, provided that it also inherits the parent company’s debts and liability.
The secretariat will keep members informed of the latest development of the regulation.
