Provisions for the Implementation of the Rules of the Origin forExport Goods of the People's Republic of China

Provisions for the Implementation of the Rules of the Origin forExport Goods of the People's Republic of China (Promulgated on April 1, 1992) Whole Doc.

Chapter 1 General Principles Article 1 The Provisions are formulated in order to strengthen the management of the issuing of certificates of origin for export goods from China in accordance with the Rules of Origin for Export Goods of the People's Republic of China.

Article 2 The Ministry of Foreign Economic Relation and Trade of the People's Republic of China exercises the unified supervision and management of signing and issuing certificates of origin for export goods in the whole country and is responsible for negotiation with foreign government and international organizations on the rules of origin and for signing the agreement on the rules of origin.

The departments in charge of foreign economy and trade affairs of provinces, autonomous regions and cities under the direct administration of the Central Government are responsible for coordinating the work concerning the issuing of certificates of origin in their respective areas.

Chapter 2 Certificate Issuing Organizations Article 3 The State Administration for Inspection of Import and Export Commodities (hereinafter referred to as the State Administration for Inspection of Commodities), the Import and Export Commodities Bureaus (hereinafter referred to as the Commodity Inspection Bureaus) in various localities, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and its branch offices (hereinafter referred to as the Council for the Promotion of Trade) and other organizations designated by the Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade are the organizations for issuing certificates of origin.

The certificate issuing organizations shall submit the names, seals and authorized signatures to the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, and the Ministry shall notify them to the related departments of foreign countries according to actual needs.

Chapter 3 Qualifications for Application Article 4 Enterprises established according to law within the territory of the People's Republic of China, enterprises enjoying the rights of conducting foreign trade, enterprises engaging in processing with supplied materials or samples assembling with supplied parts and compensation trade and the foreign-funded enterprises may apply for certificates of origin to the certificate issuing organizations according to the stipulations in Article 3 of the Provisions.

Chapter 4 Application for and Issuing of the Certificates of Origin Article 5 Applicant units shall go through the registration procedures with the certificate issuing organizations by producing business licenses, documents granting the rights of conducting foreign trade approved by the department concerned and the relevant materials certifying that the goods meet the standard of the origin for export goods.

Materials provided confidentially shall be protected.

Article 6 Applicant units shall designate special personnel to apply for certificates of origin and the seals of applicant units and the name of the personnel responsible for the application shall be registered when the applicant units file the application for registration with the certificate issuing organizations. After the verification by the issuing organizations, the personnel responsible for the application shall be issued with the "Certificate of Applicants". If there is any change with the personnel responsible for applicating the certificate of origin, the applicant units shall notify the certificate issuing organizations in time.

Article 7 In case there are changes in the composition or in processing procedures of the registered goods containing import elements, the applicant units shall notify the issuing organizations in time.

Article 8 In ascertaining the origin of goods, the raw materials and parts accessories from Taiwan, Hongkong and Macao shall be deemed as import elements for the time being.

Article 9 If the temporarily reimported domestic raw materials which are unprocessed after being exported are to be used, they shall be deemed as domestic elements so long as enough evidence is provided.

Article 10 Application for issuing certificates of origin can be filed for only when the export goods themselves and their internal and external packages or directions contain no words or marks denoting other countries or regions.

Article 11 When the goods fail to obtain certificates of origin due to the insufficient manufacture procedures in China, applications may be filed for "Certificate of Processing and Assembling".

Article 12 Certificates of origin shall not be issued to foreign goods re-exported via China, but certificates for transit trade may be applied for.

Article 13 If certificates of origin or certificates of place of manufacture are not required by importing countries or importers, application for such certificates is not necessary.

Article 14 If the importer only requires a statement of the origin of goods on the commercial bills or other documents, the manufacturers or exporters may make a statement on the invoices or vouchers if the goods are totally originated in China, but they have to apply for certificates of origin with issuing organizations authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade before making such statement if the goods contain elements coming from foreign countries or outside the territory of China.

Article 15 If the importer requires official certificates of origin, applicant units shall file applications with the Commodity Inspection Bureaus; if the importer requires non-governmental certificates of origin, applicant units shall file applications with the Council for the Promotion of Trade; if there is no specific requirement, applicant units may file applications with either the Commodity Inspection Bureaus or the Council for the Promotion of Trade.

In case there are special agreements on the issuing certificates of origin between governments, application shall be filed according to the stipulations of the agreements. For certificates of origin under the general preferential system, application shall be filed with the Commodity Inspection Bureaus.

Article 16 Application for certificates of origin shall be filed at least 3 days before Customs declaration and shipping. The issuing organizations shall examine the contents of the goods filled in the application and other related documents, and complete the issuing procedures within 3 working days.

Article 17 If applicant units require the alternation or addition of the contents of the certificates of origin, they must state the reasons and provide evidence. Upon the examination and permission by the issuing organizations, they can refile the application, and the original certificates shall be withdrawn and the new ones be issued.

Article 18 In case certificates of origin are lost or destroyed, the owners of the certificates must state the reasons and provide evidence in writing to the certificate issuing organizations, and the reapplication procedures shall be followed after examination and permission by the certificate issuing organizations. The certificate issuing organizations shall make a note on the new certificates: "The original Certificate of Origin No. x x x ceases to be valid starting from x x date, x x month and x x year".

Article 19 In general, certificate issuing organizations shall not accept applications for certificates of origin after the goods are shipped. But under special circumstances (not the mistakes of applicant units, for instance), the delayed applications can be accepted and certificates of origin can be issued in retrospect. In that case, the following documents must be submitted: (1) a letter explaining the reasons for the delayed application; (2) copies of commercial invoices and bill of lading/air way bill of lading/po stal receipts for the goods listed in the application.

Article 20 In accepting the application, the certificate issuing organizations shall examine whether the applicant units and the goods have been registered, and whether the "Certificate of Applicants" and the documents and materials meet the requirements. If the requirements are not met, the applications shall be returned and filed again.

Article 21 Certificate issuing organizations have the right to inspect the production processes and elements of the goods for which certificates of origin is applied. If the certificate issuing organization is in doubt as to the goods for which application for certificates of origin is filed, it can go to the factories for verification. If the goods do not meet the standards of the origin, it shall refuse to issue the certificate of origin.

Article 22 If importing countries return the certificates of origin for inquiry, the original issuing organizations shall be responsible for investigation and verification and give the reply to the importing countries within 6 months after the letter of inquiry is received.

Chapter 5 Penalties Article 23 If any enterprise conducts one of the following actions in violation of the Provisions, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade may, on its own or according to the proposals of the departments in charge of foreign economy and trade affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and cities under the direct administration of the Central Government, make out such penalties as circulated criticism, suspending or the time being and even canceling the qualification for apply ing for certificates of origin: (1) provide fake materials to obtain certificate of origin by cheating; (2) forge or alter the certificate of origin; and (3) illegally transfer the certificate of origin.

The personnel in charge of the enterprise and those directly responsible for the actions mentioned above shall be given administrative punishments and if the case is serious enough to constitute a crime, criminal responsibility shall be affixed.

Article 24 If any certificate issuing organization issues in violation of the provisions or refuses to issue the certificates without any sound reason, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade may, on its own or in accordance with the proposals of the departments in charge of foreign economy and trade affairs of the people's government of provinces, autonomous regions and cities under the direct administration of the Central Government, give it such penalties as circulated criticism or suspending the rights of issuing certificates of origin.

Personnel of certificates issuing organizations who try to seek personal gains by resorting to cheating or abusing their power or committing dereliction of duty shall be given administrative punishments and if the case is serious enough the criminal responsibility shall be affixed.

Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions Article 25 The Quota and License Affairs Office of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade is responsible for the statistical work of the certificates of origin issued by the Office according to the provisions of governmental agreements; the State Administration for Inspection of Commodities and the Council for the Promotion of Trade are responsible for the statistical work of certificates issued by them respectively; the departments in charge of foreign economic relations and trade of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and cities under the direct administration of the Central Government are responsible for the statistical work concerning the certificates of origin issued in their respective regions according to governmental agreements and commercial invoices and bills of documents endorsed with the place of origin by manufactures and companies; national foreign trade corporations and various industry-trade corporations in Beijing are responsible for the statistical work concerning the commercial invoices and bills of documents endorsed with place of origin by them.

The organizations responsible for statistical work mentioned in the preceding paragraph must report regularly to the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade about the implementation of the rules of origin and the statistics of issuing. The statements on the first half of the year shall be submitted before July 20 and the statements on the whole year shall be submitted before January 20 of the following year.

Article 26 The form of certificates of origin of the people's Republic of China and other related documents shall be decided by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. The certificates shall be printed in English in quadruplicate, 1 master copy and 3 duplicated copies.

Article 27 A certain amount of fees shall be collected for issuing certificates of origin and other documents. The measures for collecting the fees shall be worked out by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade together with departments concerned of the State Council.

Article 28 The Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade shall work out and publish the lists of manufacturing and processing procedures in compliance with the provision of Article 6 of the Rules of the People's Republic of China on the Certificate of Origin for Export Goods.

Article 29 The Provisions shall come into effect on May 1, 1992.