Interim Measures of the Customs of of China for the Administration of Pre-ruling

• Document Number：Order No. 236 of the General Administration of Customs
• Area of Law： Customs
• Level of Authority： Departmental Rules
• Date issued：12-26-2017
• Effective Date：02-01-2018
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： General Administration of Customs

Order of the General Administration of Customs
(No. 236)
The Interim Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for the Administration of Pre-ruling, as deliberated and adopted at the executive meeting of the General Administration of Customs on December 12, 2017, are hereby issued and shall come into force on February 2, 2018.
Minister: Yu Guangzhou
December 26, 2017
Interim Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for the Administration of Pre-ruling
Article 1 For the purposes of promoting trade safety and convenience, optimizing the business environment and enhancing enterprises' predictability of the import and export trade activities, these Measures are developed in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China, other relevant laws and administrative regulations, and relevant international treaties and agreements the Chinese government has concluded or acceded to.
Article 2 These Measures shall be applicable to the pre-ruling rendered by the Customs on the customs affairs relating to the actual import and export activities of an applicant before the actual import or export of the goods upon application of the applicant.
Article 3 Before the actual import or export of goods, an applicant may apply for a pre-ruling on the following customs affairs:
(1) the commodity classification of the imported and exported goods;
(2) the origin or origin qualification of the imported and exported goods;
(3) the relevant elements and appraisal methods for the customs value of imported goods; and
(4) other customs affairs as prescribed by the General Administration of Customs.
For the purpose of the preceding paragraph, “relevant elements of customs value” includes royalties, commissions, freight and premium, special relationship, and other elements relevant to the customs value.
Article 4 An applicant for pre-ruling shall be a foreign trade operator that is relevant to the actual import or export activities and that is registered with the Customs.
Article 5 To apply for pre-ruling, an applicant shall submit an Application for Pre-ruling of the Customs of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Application for Pre-ruling”) and the relevant materials required by the Customs. If the materials are in a foreign language, the applicant shall concurrently submit the Chinese translations that satisfy the requirements of the Customs.
An applicant shall assume legal liabilities for the authenticity, accuracy, completeness and standardization of the materials submitted.
Article 6 An applicant that needs the Customs to keep its business secrets confidential shall file a written request with the Customs, and specify the specific contents. The Customs shall assume the obligation of maintaining confidentiality in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state.
Article 7 An applicant shall file an application for pre-ruling with the customs office directly under the General Administration of Customs at its registration place three months before the import or export of the goods.
Under special circumstances, an applicant with justified reasons may file an application for pre-ruling within three months before the intended import or export of the goods.
An Application for Pre-Ruling shall include only one category of customs affair.
Article 8 The Customs shall examine and decide whether to accept the application within 10 days of the date of receiving an Application for Pre-ruling and other relevant materials, and develop and issue a Decision of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for the Acceptance of the Application for Pre-ruling or the Decision of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for Disapproving the Acceptance of the Application for Pre-ruling.
Where the application materials do not comply with the relevant provisions, the Customs shall, before deciding whether to accept the application, notify the applicant of making supplements and corrections at one time within the prescribed time limit, and develop and issue a Notice of Making Supplements and Corrections to the Application for Pre-ruling of the Customs of the People's Republic of China. The period for making supplements and corrections to the application materials shall not be included in the time limit as prescribed in paragraph 1 of this article.
An applicant failing to submit materials to make supplements and corrections within the prescribed time limit shall be deemed that the applicant has not filed an application for pre-ruling.
Where the Customs fails to make a decision on whether to accept the application within 10 days of the receipt of the Application for Pre-ruling or the relevant materials, and fails to notify the applicant of making supplements and corrections at one time, the application shall be deemed to have been accepted on the date of receipt of the materials.
Article 9 Under one of the following circumstances, the Customs shall make a decision on disapproving acceptance and specify the reasons:
(1) The application does not comply with the provisions of Article 3, 4, 5 or 7 of these Measures.
(2) There have been specific provisions on the customs affairs for which an application is filed for ruling in the customs rules and regulations, and the announcement of the General Administration of Customs.
(3) An applicant has filed an application for pre-ruling on the same matter and the application has been accepted.
Article 10 The Customs shall make a decision on pre-ruling on the customs affairs for which an applicant files an application for pre-ruling in accordance with the relevant laws, administrative regulations, customs rules and the announcement of the General Administration of Customs, and develop and issue a Decision of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Pre-ruling (hereinafter referred to as the “Decision on Pre-ruling”).
During the process of making a decision on pre-ruling, the Customs may request the applicant to submit materials or specimen relevant to the customs affairs for which an application is filed within the prescribed time limit; and the applicant may also submit the relevant materials as supplements to the Customs.
Article 11 The Customs shall, within 60 days of acceptance of an application, develop and issue a Decision of Pre-Ruling.
A Decision of Pre-Ruling shall be served on the applicant and shall come into force as of the date of service.
Where relevant situation needs to be determined by testing, detection, authentication, expert demonstration or any other means, the time needed shall not be included in the time limit as prescribed in paragraph 1 of this article.
Article 12 Under one of the following circumstances, the Customs may terminate the pre-ruling and develop and issue a Decision of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Termination of Pre-ruling:
(1) An applicant makes a declaration to the Customs in writing before a decision on pre-ruling is made for withdrawing its application, and the Customs approves.
(2) An applicant fails to provide the relevant materials or specimen as required by the Customs.
(3) A decision on pre-ruling fails to be made within the time limit as prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 11 due to the applicant's reason.
Article 13 The validity of a decision on pre-ruling shall be 3 years.
Where the relevant provisions of the laws, administrative regulations, Customs rules, and announcement of the General Administration of Customs based on which a decision on pre-ruling is made are changed and affect the validity of the decision, the decision on pre-ruling shall automatically become invalid.
An applicant shall not reapply for pre-ruling within the validity period for the matters involved in the decision on pre-ruling made by the Customs.
Article 14 A decision on pre-ruling shall not be retroactive to the goods actually imported or exported before its entry into force.
Article 15 An applicant that imports or exports goods under the circumstances as specified in a decision on pre-ruling within the validity period of the decision shall conduct declaration according to the decision on pre-ruling, and the Customs shall grant approval thereto.
Article 16 An effective decision on pre-ruling falling under one of the following circumstances shall be revoked by the Customs and the applicant shall be notified:
(1) A decision on pre-ruling needs to be revoked because the materials provided by the applicant are false, inaccurate or incomplete.
(2) A decision on pre-ruling is mistaken.
(3) Other circumstances requiring revocation.
A decision on revocation shall come into force on the date of issuance. Where a decision on pre-ruling is revoked in accordance with the provisions of item (1) of the preceding paragraph, the decision on pre-ruling revoked shall be invalidated from the very beginning.
Article 17 Except those involving trade secrets, the Customs may announce the contents of a decision on pre-ruling.
Article 18 An applicant that refuses to accept a decision on pre-ruling may apply to the General Administration of Customs for administrative reconsideration; and an applicant that refuses to accept a decision on reconsideration may apply to the State Council for a ruling according to the law or bring an administrative lawsuit with the people's court.
Article 19 An applicant that provides false materials or conceals relevant information shall be given a warning and may be imposed upon a fine of not more than 10,000.
Article 20 The format texts of the legal documents as specified in these Measures shall be separately developed and issued by the General Administration of Customs.
For the purpose of these Measures, “day” for the prescribed time limit means calendar day.
Article 21 The power to interpret these Measures shall remain with the General Administration of Customs.
Article 22 These Measures shall come into force on February 1, 2018.